Frequency of Helicobacter pylori antibodies in porto-systemic encephalopathy

To study the frequency of Helicobacter pylori antibodies in patients presenting with porto-systemic encephalopathy due to liver disease.

An observational, cross-sectional study.

Different medical units at Civil Hospital, Karachi between May 2001 and April 2002.

During the study period, seventy-six patients of porto-systemic encephalopathy due to liver diseases were selected. These subjects were evaluated for hepatic encephalopathy grade, modified Child-Pugh classification and were managed according to the standard practices. These patients were evaluated for Helicobacter (H. pylori ) antibody status by ELISA(Abbott Laboratories) method.

Out of 76 patients studied and tested for H. pylori antibodies, 48(63.2%) were males and 28(36.8%) were females with age ranging between 17 and 85 years. Out of 76 patients who presented with porto-systemic encephalopathy, 59(77.6%) had a positive H. pylori antibody test. Thirty five of these were males and 24 were females. A significant number of patients who presented with higher grade of encephalopathy were H. pylori antibody positive (p < 0.001).

In this study, frequency of H. pylori antibodies was significantly high in patients of porto-systemic encephalopathy.