[Gastritis, dyspepsia and Helicobacter pylori]

Helicobacter pylori is a major culprit in chronic gastritis. Interactions between the infected host, the bacteria and the environment, influence the type of gastritis and the occurrence of specific diseases (peptic ulcer, gastric lymphoma and adenocarcinoma) associated with the infection in a minority of cases. The benefit of H. pylori eradication is not proved in isolated gastritis, except for rare forms such as hypertrophic or lymphocytic gastritis. In spite of a high prevalence in functional dyspepsia with normal gastroduodenal endoscopy, H. pylori is not the main cause of symptoms in dyspeptic patients, but the gastritis could be involved in the appearance of ulcer-like symptoms. Strategies for non-invasive H. pylori detection for primary eradication are developed to reduce the endoscopy workload in the management of uninvestigated dyspepsia.