Related Experiment Videos
[Helicobacter pylori diagnosis in children with recurrent abdominal pain]
C M Méndez Nieto1, J Ramírez Mayans, R Cervantes Bustamente
1Servicio de Gastroenterología, Instituto nacional de Pediatría, Ciudad de México.
Insights
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is significantly more prevalent in children experiencing recurrent abdominal pain. Diagnostic tests like histology, urease, and ELISA showed comparable accuracy in identifying H. pylori in this pediatric group.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Gastroenterology
- Infectious Diseases
- Microbiology
Background:
- Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) is a common pediatric complaint.
- Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is a potential etiological factor in RAP.
- Accurate diagnosis of H. pylori is crucial for effective management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the prevalence of H. pylori infection in children with RAP.
- To compare the diagnostic accuracy of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with biopsies, urease tests, and ELISA for H. pylori detection in children.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 40 children with RAP and 40 healthy controls.
- Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with gastric biopsies for histology and urease testing.
- ELISA for H. pylori specific serum IgG antibodies.
Main Results:
- Histological findings were considered the gold standard for H. pylori diagnosis.
- No statistically significant differences were found between histological findings and urease or ELISA test results.
- H. pylori IgG antibody prevalence was 57% in children with RAP versus 5% in controls.
Conclusions:
- H. pylori infection is significantly more prevalent in children with recurrent abdominal pain.
- Histology, urease tests, and ELISA demonstrate comparable diagnostic utility for H. pylori in this pediatric population.
- These findings support investigating H. pylori in children presenting with recurrent abdominal pain.
Abstract:
We studied 40 children with recurrent abdominal pain during a period of six months (january to june 1993) entered at the gastroenterology service of the Instituto Nacional de Pediatria in México City. In all of then we performed in all of them an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with 3 biopsies from gastric mucosa (antrum) for histological examination and urease tests. We also did an ELISA test looking for an H. Pylori specific serum IgG response. Our control group were 40 healthy children in whom we did only the ELISA test. We did not find any statistics differences between the histologic findings (gold standard) and the urease and ELISA tests. With IgG antibodies prevalence for H. Pylori in children with recurrent abdominal pain were 57% in contrast with our control group in whom the prevalence was 5%.