HIGH PREVALENCE OF HELICOBACTER-PYLORI IN LIVER-CIRRHOSIS - RELATIONSHIP WITH CLINICAL AND ENDOSCOPIC FEATURES AND THE RISK OF PEPTIC-ULCER

In 153 consecutive patients with cirrhosis we assessed: (1) the preval ence of IgG to Helicobacter pylori and compared it with that found in 1010 blood donors resident in the same area; and (2) the relationships of IgG to Helicobacter pylori with clinical and endoscopic features a nd with the risk of peptic ulcer. The IgG to Helicobacter pylori preva lence of cirrhotics was significantly higher than in blood donors (76. 5% vs 41.8%; P < 0.0005) and was not associated with sex, cirrhosis et iology, Child class, gammaglobulins and hypertensive gastropathy. In b oth groups, the prevalence of IgG to Helicobacter pylori was significa ntly higher in subjects over 40. Among patients with cirrhosis a signi ficantly higher prevalence of Helicobacter pylori was found in patient s with previous hospital admission (P = 0.02) and/or upper gastrointes tinal endoscopy (P = 0.01) and patients with peptic ulcer (P = 0.0004) . Multivariate analysis identified increasing age and male sex as risk factors for a positive Helicobacter pylori serology and no independen t risk factors for peptic ulcer. The high prevalence of Helicobacter p ylori-positive serology found in the present series is related to age and sex and might also be explained by previous hospital admissions an d/or upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Our results do not confirm the role of Helicobacter pylori as risk factor for peptic ulcer in patient s with liver cirrhosis.