[Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in gastric pathology in Aragon]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in 400 patients referred for upper digestive tract endoscopy. In our area it hasn't developed yet any epidemiologic study about this disease. Helicobacter pylori was observed in 281 of the 400 patients studied (70%). No significant differences by sex were found in the subjects analyzed. There was a rise in the percentage of positivities as age increased. Helicobacter pylori were positive in 74 of the 88 patients with chronic superficial gastritis (84.1%), in 53 of the 65 with chronic atrophic gastritis (81.5%), in 16 of the 25 with chronic atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia (64%), in 49 of the 63 with gastric ulcer (77.8%), in 73 of the 85 with duodenal ulcer (85.9%), in 9 of the 24 patients with gastric carcinoma (37.5%), in 5 of the 19 with stump gastritis (26.3%), where as only a few Helicobacter pylori were found in 2 of the 31 histologically normal subjects (6.5%). These findings support the wiew that Helicobacter pylori may be etiologically related to chronic gastritis and peptic ulceration, even though their precise role still remains to be determined.