HELICOBACTER-PYLORI IN DYSPEPTIC CHILDREN AND ADULTS - ENDOSCOPIC, BACTERIOLOGICAL AND HISTOLOGIC CORRELATIONS

Using different bacteriological (urease test Gram staining and culture ) and histological (Steiner staining and modified Giemsa staining) tec hniques, we searched for the presence of Helicobacter pylori in the ga stric antrum of 200 dyspeptic Brazilian patients (106 females and 94 m ales aged 19 days to 81 years). The presence of bacteria was then corr elated with the endoscopic and histological findings. H. pylori was pr esent in 59.5% of the population studied In Brazil, colonization occur s early, involving 37% of the dyspeptic population by 20 years of age. The presence of H. pylori in the gastric antrum was strongly associat ed with duodenal ulcer (P<0.001) and a normal endoscopic examination d id not exclude the possibility of colonization of the gastric antrum b y H. pylori. The most sensitive test was the preformed urease test (89 %). We conclude that more than one diagnostic method should preferably be used for the detection of H. pylori and that the presence of H. py lori is closely correlated with active chronic gastritis (P< 0.001).