Concordance between breath test and histologic damage in Helicobacter pylori associated infections in infancy

OBJECTIVE: the purpose of this study was to investigate the concordance bet ween urea breath test values and the histological severity of gastric mucos a lesions in children. METHOD: forty children ranging in age from 3 to 17 years were examined endo scopically because of abdominal pain and positive breath test results. Hist ological status was determined by the intensity of the inflammatory infiltr ate and by the depth of the damage. Histologically, four groups were consid ered: normal-appearing gastric mucosa (group 0), mild antrum gastritis (gro up 1), moderate antrum gastritis (group 2), and severe antrum gastritis (gr oup 3). RESULTS: normal-appearing gastric mucosa was observed in 8 children with a mean breath test value of 44.07; mild chronic gastritis was observed in 17 children with a mean breath test value of 36.15; moderate gastritis was dem onstrated in 10 children with a mean breath test value of 48.50, and severe gastritis was observed in 5 children with a mean breath test value of 52.3 1. CONCLUSION: we conclude that there is no concordance between urea breath te st values and histological severity of gastric mucosa lesions in children.