H. PYLORI INFECTION
AS A CAUSE OF RECURRENT ABDOMINAL PAIN IN EGYPTIAN CHILDREN
Mona Abu-Zekry, M.Serag
Zakareya*, Amany El Kholy? Hanaa El Karaksy and Sofia Kamel
Departments of
Pediatrics, Tropical Medicine* and Clinical Pathology?
Cairo University, Egypt
Background: Recurrent abdominal pain
(RAP) is a common symptom in children. The recent discovery of H. Pylori as
a cause or gastritis and duodenal ulcer, with abdominal pain as a major
symptom leads to the assumption that H. pylori may cause RAP in children.
The aim of the study is to investigate the role of H. pylori in children
with RAP. A comparison between the different methods of diagnosis of H.
pylori is carried out.
Subjects: Fifty children aged
3-12 years (28 males, 22 females) were included in the study. Organic
causes of RAP were excluded. All children were subjected to the following:
Upper endoscopy and biopsy, urease test, culture of gastric biopsy, direct
smear, histopathological examination, and serological testing for Ig G
antibodies to H. Pylori. Thirty normal children ofmatched age and sex were
tested as a control group by serology only.
Results: From the children
suffering of RAP, 74% were considred infected. Among these cases 97% were
positive by direct smear, the urease test was positive in 100%, the culture
positive in 62%, the pathology positive in 100% and serum Ig G positive in
95%. By endoscopy all infected
cases had gastritis (1OO%), while by histopathology only 84% showed inflammation.
Conclusion: From the above results
it can be concluded that H. Pylori is an important cause of RAP in
children. There is a high concordance between the different methods of
diagnosis.