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Published on: December 14, 2020

Peptic ulcers and erosions are common in Israeli children undergoing upper endoscopy

Rania Egbaria1, Arie Levine, Ada Tamir

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Bnai Zion Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel.

Helicobacter
|January 22, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Peptic ulcers and erosions (PU&E) are common in Israeli children referred for endoscopy, with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection being a key factor after age 10. Non-H. pylori PU&E also occurs frequently in younger children.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Gastroenterology
  • Hepatology
  • Endoscopy

Background:

  • Peptic ulcers and erosions (PU&E) are considered uncommon in pediatric populations.
  • Early Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) exposure may increase the risk of early-onset PU&E.
  • Israel has a high prevalence of H. pylori in children, facilitating early acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the prevalence and characteristics of PU&E in children referred for upper endoscopy.
  • To investigate the association of H. pylori with PU&E in this pediatric cohort.
  • To describe differences in gastric versus duodenal PU&E and H. pylori status.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective study of 751 diagnostic upper endoscopies performed between January 2003 and May 2006.
  • PU&E defined as erosive gastritis/duodenitis or ulcer in the stomach or duodenum.
  • H. pylori status assessed via rapid urease test and gastric biopsies.

Main Results:

  • PU&E detected in 22.5% of patients (169/751), including 6.8% with ulcers and 15.7% with erosions.
  • H. pylori was positive in 66.3% (112/169) of patients with PU&E.
  • H. pylori-associated PU&E increased after age 10, with gastric PU&E preceding duodenal disease; non-H. pylori PU&E was often idiopathic and responded to PPI treatment.

Conclusions:

  • PU&E is common in this selected pediatric population, particularly gastric PU&E.
  • H. pylori-associated PU&E incidence rises after age 10, with gastric involvement appearing earlier than duodenal.
  • Approximately one-third of pediatric PU&E cases are non-H. pylori, often idiopathic, and present earlier than H. pylori-related cases.
Abstract

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