Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in dyspeptic patients undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in a tertiary-care teaching hospital

ABSTRACT

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection is widely prevalent in the world especially in the developing countries. The common clinical presentation of this disease includes peptic and duodenal ulcer. A major post-infection complication of this disease is gastric carcinoma. The scope of this study was to determine the prevalence of active H. pylori infection in the local population by retrospective review of patient records, which can give a better picture of the current situation and estimate the at-risk population of gastric carcinoma. Objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of H. pylori infection in biopsy specimens obtained from upper gastrointestinal endoscopy performed in dyspeptic patients in a tertiary-care hospital.Methods: The study was performed as a retrospective review of biopsy reports of 262 dyspeptic patients with previously unknown H. pylori status who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy during the months of January 2018 to May 2018. Biopsy obtained from stomach was evaluated for the presence of H. pylori infection by Rapid Urease Test (RUT) or histopathological examination.Results: The prevalence of H. pylori infection in dyspeptic patients obtained from the above study was 44.7% and was found to be more common in males compared to females.Conclusions: H. pylori is a risk factor for gastric carcinoma. Determining the prevalence with early identification of active infections results in better treatment and post infection monitoring for malignancy.