RISK OF HELICOBACTER-PYLORI TRANSMISSION BY UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL ENDOSCOPY

Background: Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy has been reported as a ri sk factor for the transmission of Helicobacter pylori. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of transmission of H. pylori in fection by upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in patients who had previo usly had such procedures in a low disinfection level environment. Meth ods: The study included 1082 patients. Patients that had undergone upp er gastrointestinal endoscopy or were treated with antibiotics 15 days before the index endoscopy were excluded. H. pylori infection was dia gnosed by ultra-rapid urease test. Variables analyzed were age, gender , type of dyspepsia (organic or functional), and the number of previou s upper gastrointestinal endoscopies. Results: Overall prevalence of H . pylori infection was 60%. Patients ranged in age from 13 to 94 years (mean = 45.8, SD = 15.7) and the number of previous upper gastrointes tinal endoscopies ranged from 0 to 20 (mean = 1.5, SD = 2.4). In 53.3% of tile patients, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy; revealed some muc osal lesion (organic dyspepsia). Prevalence of H. pylori infection was higher in patients with organic rather than functional dyspepsia (71. 1% vs. 47.1%, p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant diffe rence in the mean number of upper gastrointestinal endoscopies in pati ents with and without H. pylori infection. Conclusions: We concluded t hat there was no association between history of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and current H. pylori infection in this study population.