Severe acute gastritis associated with Helicobacter pylori infection

We describe the case of a young female referred to our unit because of acut e upper abdominal symptoms, Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed a gastr ic picture resembling lymphoma or acute non-steroidal anti-inflammatory dru g gastropathy (deep, large and irregular ulcers), but the clinical history and the histological examination of gastric biopsies were consistent only w ith acute gastritis Helicobacter pylori-correlated, The patient was treated with omeprazole and antibiotics with complete recovery. As the patient's c at had suffered from an acute gastrointestinal distress two weeks earlier a case of zoonosis was hypothesized and an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed also on the cat. Unfortunately, we were not able to detect He licobacter pylori in the cat gastric mucosa, but only urease-producing spir al microorganisms. Possible sources of infection and pathogenetic mechanism s of the severe gastritis are discussed.