Background: Dyspepsia is a common gastrointestinal disorder, and is the most common indication for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Helicobacter pylori is a significant aetiological factor in acid peptic diseases and gastric cancer. Detection of this organism during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy has become standard clinical practice. Data is scanty from North-Eastern Nigeria on the subject.
Objectives: To determine the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori among dyspeptic patients, and alsoto find out the association of H. pylori and degree of activity in chronic gastritis.
Methods: This is a hospital-based cross sectional study which was carried out at the Endoscopy unit of Federal Medical Centre, Yola and Histopathology unit, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri from November, 2006 to May, 2010. Patients with dyspepsia who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy as part of their work-up, also had endoscopic biopsies taken from the antral portions of their stomach. The biopsy specimens were fixed in 10% formalin and transported from Yola to Maiduguri by courier for processing.
Results: Three hundred and forty-nine patients comprising 152(43.6%) males and 197(56.4%) females with dyspepsia had upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Their age ranged between 14 and 103 years with a median of 44.1 years. A prevalence rate of 56.7% for Helicobacter pylori was found.Helicobacter pylori associated with severe activity accounted for 80.3%; moderate activity- 57.5%; mild activity - 20% and normal gastric mucosa- 9.1%.
Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of Helicobacter pylori among patients with dyspepsia, and a strong association between H. pylori and chronic gastritis with severe activity.