Helicobacter pylori seroprevalence in cirrhotic patients with hepatitis B virus infection

Liver cirrhosis is a significant cause of death in Italy and one of the mos t frequent causes of hospitalization. The burden of cirrhotic patients on t he National Health System is extremely high due to the frequent need for me dical care. Acute peptic ulcer and upper gastrointestinal bleeding reported ly occur in over one-third of cirrhotic patients. Since Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection strongly correlates with peptic ulcer, we wished to ascertain the prevalence of H. pylori infection in cirrhotic patients. In a case-control study we looked for this infection in 45 consecutive male pat ients suffering from hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related cirrhosis and 310 sex and age marched blood donors resident in the same area. Antibodies against H. pylori were present in 30/45 (89%) patients and 183/310 (59%) blood dono rs (P < 0.001). This very high prevalence of H. pylori may explain the freq uent occurrence of gastroduodenal ulcer in cirrhotic patients. (C) 2000 Pub lished by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.