Prevalence ofHelicobacter pylori infection andrelated gastroduodenal lesions inspouses ofHelicobacter pylori positive patients withduodenal ulcer

AbstractBackground-To date, very few studieshaveevaluatedtheriskofinfectionamongspouses of Helicobacter pylorn positivepatientsandtheirresultsareconflicting.Aim-To assess the seroprevalence of H pylorninfectioninspousesof H pyloriposi-tive patients with duodenal ulcer as com- paredwithageand sex matchedvolunteerblood donors, as well as the frequency of endoscopicgastroduodenallesionsinthesespouses, according to the presence or absenceofgastrointestinalcomplaints.Methods-Some 124 spouses (48%males)of patients with duodenal ulcer con- secutively seen over a 10 month period were studied. They were all screened forserum IgG anti-H pylorn antibodies andasked to complete a questionnaire withparticular reference to the presence of chronic or recurrent dyspepsia. Uppergastrointestinal tract endoscopy withantral andcorpusbiopsyspecimenstakenfor histological examination and urease rapid test was offered to all seropositivespouses. Volunteer blood donors (248),living in Milanandmatchedfor age, sex,north-south origins, and socioeconomic