Vasile Valeriu Lupu
Pediatrics Department, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Romania
Title: Helicobacter Pylori Infection in Children
Biography
Biography: Vasile Valeriu Lupu
Abstract
Introduction: Gastritis is associated with multiple etiologies, but in most pediatric cases of gastritis the etiology is unknown. Numerous studies have reported Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) as etiological factor for mild to severe gastritis. We tried to evaluate the distribution of the infection with H. pylori by gender, age and place of origin.
Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective study over a period of 3 years, over a lot of 1757 patients of both sexes, aged between 12 month old and 18 year old, admitted to a regional gastroenterology center in Northeast Romania, with clinical signs of gastritis which underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.
Results: Out of the 1757 children diagnosed with various forms of gastritis, in 30.85% of cases the H. pylori infection was present. Distribution of children with H. pylori infection by gender revealed a frequency of 26.75% in males and 73.25% in women. In the study group, the average age of children who had H. pylori infection was higher (14.10 + 2.833 DS), compared with children without H. pylori (12.78 + 3.694 SD), an average difference of 1.3 years (95% confidence interval 0.96 to 1.66; p <0.001). Distribution of children with H. pylori infection by place of origin highlighted a frequency of 24.72% in urban and 75.28% in rural areas.
Conclusions: The most important cause of gastritis identified in pediatric age is H. pylori infection. For the identification of H. pylori infection by endoscopy with biopsies, followed by the urease test and / or direct microscopy remains the gold standard.