PREVALÊNCIA DO Helicobacter pylori EM ADOLESCENTES SUBMETIDOS À ESOFAGOGASTRODUODENOSCOPIA

This study aimed at determining the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in 12 to 22-year-old patients who were submitted to upper digestive endoscopy from 2002 to 2006. Associations with clinic, endoscopic and anatomopathologic findings were made. A cross-sectional study was carried from medical record review and endoscopic and anatomopathologic apraisals. Records of 215 patients were analyzed. Pain or discomfort in epigastrium, hypocondrium or flank was observed in 123 (57.2%) of them. H. pylori was prevalent in 59.5% of the cases. 50.7% of patients had exsudative enantematic gastritis at endoscopy and 91.9% had chronic gastritis at the anatomopathologic exam. The study also identified a significant linear trend between prevalence of H. pylori and the degree of chronic gastritis at the anatomopathologic exam in this group of patients.