[An original method of bacteriological sampling for studying Campylobacter pylori in duodenal ulcer]

The presence of Campylobacter pylori in duodenal ulcer was investigated in 26 patients. The method used was a sterile endoscopic sampling technique which forcasted and checked for contamination of the samples. A sterile catheter was introduced through the endoscope and then an infusion of saline was instituted. Once the catheter was in the intestinal lumen, the infused solution was aspirated for control of sterility. Semi-quantitative cultures of gastric and duodenal juices and of biopsies of the duodenal ulcer, the bulbar mucosa close to the ulcer and prepyloric antral mucosa were compared. Only two contaminations were detected with this method. C. pylori was isolated in one gastric and one duodenal sample only. It was isolated in 14 of 26 duodenal ulcers, 12 of 26 bulbar mucosa and 20 of 26 mucosal specimens. Our study established that the presence of C. pylori was very uncommon in gastric and duodenal juices even when the bacterium was present in the mucosal membrane in large quantities.