HELICOBACTER PYLORI INFECTION;

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of H. pylori infection in dyspeptic patients undergoing endoscopy at a tertiary care centerin Karachi. Data source: Patients undergoing endoscopy at Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi. Design of study: Cross sectional descriptivestudy. Setting: Department of Gastroenterology, Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi. Period: May 2008–October 2008. Material andmethods: All adult patients with symptoms of dyspepsia for more than 1 month duration were included. Patients with upper gastrointestinalbleed, anemia or weight loss were excluded. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed in all patients and biopsy specimens two eachfrom antrum and body and one from fundus were taken for histology. Results: A total of 123 dyspeptic patients were included in the study. 76(61.8%) patients were males and 47 (38.2%) were females. H pylori was detected in mucosa of 49 (39.8%) patients. The mean age of thepatients was 41.41 ± 13.15 Years (95%CI; 39.06 to 43.75). Rate of H.pylori infection was not found statistical significant with age, gender,duration of symptoms and BMI. Conclusions: The prevalence of H pylori infection in dyspeptic patients was lower than reported in previousstudies from other centers in Pakistan. Other environmental factors should be evaluated in every patient especially who is negative for H. pyloriin our setup.