All issues > Volume 35(12); 1992

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1992;35(12):1646-1656. Published online December 15, 1992.

Gastrofiberscopic Findings and Helicobacter pylori Gastritis in Children with Recurrent Abdominal Pain

Jeong Kee JK Seo¹, Je Geun JG Chi², Eui Chong EC Kim³

¹Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National Universty College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Pathology, Seoul National Universty College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
³Department of Clinical Pathology, Seoul National Universty College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Gastrofiberscopic findings and the presence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) were studied prospectively in children with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP). Endoscopic findings in 707 children with RAP revealed that 243 children (34.3%) showed abnormal findings including gastritis in 16.9%, duodenitis in 10.4%, esophagitis in 5.7%, duodenal ulcer in 5.7%, and gastric ulcer in 1.1% of children with RAP. Endoscopic biopsy of the antrum showed chronic active gatritis in 25.2%, chronic gastritis in 64.7%, and no abnormalities in 10.1% of children with RAP. H. pylori was investigated by urease test, Giemsa stain and culture method with endoscopic biopsy specimens in 159 children with RAP; 27% of them showed H. pylori gastritis. In 82.5% of children with chronic active gastritis, H. pylori was postitive. Forty three percent of the H. pylori gastritis showed multiple micronodules in the antrum. Wheather H. pylori causes or is coincidentally associated with RAP are unknown. Further active endoscopic investigations in children with RAP are needed to elucidate the role of the endoscopic and histologic abnormalities, or the presence of H. pylori on the pathogenesis of RAP.

Keywords :Recurrent abdominal pain, Gastrofiberscopy, Helicobacter pylori, Children