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The Prevalence of Peptic Ulcer not Related to Helicobacter pylori or Non‐Steroidal Anti‐Inflammatory Drug Use is Negligible in Southern Europe
Author(s) -
Arroyo Ma Teresa,
Forne Montse,
De Argila Carlos Martin,
Feu Faust,
Arenas Juan,
De La Vega Juan,
Garrigues Vicente,
Mora Francisco,
Castro Manuel,
Bujanda Luis,
Cosme Angel,
Castiella Agustín,
Gisbert Javier P.,
Hervas Antonio,
Lanas Angel
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
helicobacter
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.206
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1523-5378
pISSN - 1083-4389
DOI - 10.1111/j.1083-4389.2004.00219.x
Subject(s) - medicine , gastroenterology , helicobacter pylori , rapid urease test , urea breath test , peptic , peptic ulcer , disease , gastritis , breath test , helicobacter pylori infection
Background and Aim. Helicobacter pylori is the major cause of peptic ulcer disease, but the proportion of H. pylori ‐negative peptic ulcers seems to be increasing in developed countries. We investigated the frequency of H. pylori‐ negative peptic ulcer without intake of nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in a Mediterranean European country. Materials and Methods. We prospectively collected consecutive patients with an endoscopically verified active peptic ulcer over 6 months from different areas of Spain. Helicobacter pylori infection was assessed by rapid urease test and histologic examination (corpus and antral biopsies). A 13 C‐urea breath test was performed if H. pylori was not detected with the invasive test. Patients were considered H. pylori ‐negative if all three tests were negative. NSAID use was determined by structured data collection. Results. Of 754 consecutive peptic ulcer patients, 16 (2.1%) were H. pylori ‐negative and had not used NSAIDs before the diagnosis. Of the 472 patients who had duodenal ulcers, 95.7% (n = 452) were H. pylori ‐positive and only 1.69% (n = 8) were negative for both H. pylori infection and NSAID use; 193 patients had benign gastric ulcers and 87% (n = 168) of them were infected by H. pylori ( p < .001 vs. duodenal ulcers). NSAID intake was more frequent in gastric ulcer patients (52.8%) than in duodenal ulcer patients (25.4%; p < .001). Consequently, the frequency of H. pylori ‐negative gastric ulcer in patients not using NSAID was 4.1% (n = 8). Conclusion. Peptic ulcer disease is still highly associated with H. pylori infection in southern Europe, and only 1.6% of all duodenal ulcers and 4.1% of all gastric ulcers were not associated with either H. pylori infection or NSAID use.