Clinical and morphological characteristics of H. pylori-associated gastroduodenal zone diseases: age-related aspects

The aim of the paper is to study the clinical and morphological characteristics of H. pylori-associated gastroduodenal zone diseases, depending on patients' age. Materials and Methods. Three groups of patients of various ages with H. pylori-associated gastroduodenal zone diseases were formed in the course of a prospective clinical study. We studied the clinical picture, and morphological characteristics of the gastroduodenal zone before and after eradication therapy. Average length of the observation period was 172 days. All patients underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy with biopsy. Results. Severe dyspeptic disorders were diagnosed in all young patients belonging to group 1 (100 %). The dyspeptic index corresponded to a high degree of severity. Morphological changes in the gastric mucosa were more significant in patients with a less pronounced clinical picture (Groups 2 and 3). In group 3, atrophic transformations of the gastric corpus were found in 30.5 %, atrophic transformations of the pylorus - in 11 %, and intestinal metaplasia - in 2.8 % of patients. Unlike young and middle-aged patients with pronounced dyspeptic syndrome, elderly patients were characterized by a low-symptom clinical picture, which was accompanied by morphological gastroduodenal zone transformations with the possible progression. Conclusions. Effective eradication therapy contributes to clinical, endoscopic and morphological remission of the gastroduodenal zone and prevents the progression of the inflammatory cascade.