Updates on the Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Children: What Are the Differences between Adults and Children?.
10.5223/pghn.2016.19.2.96
- Author:
Hye Ran YANG
1
Author Information
1. Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea. hryang@snubh.org
- Publication Type:Review
- Keywords:
Helicobacter pylori;
Diagnosis;
Endoscopy;
Urea breath test;
Stool antigen test;
Child
- MeSH:
Adult*;
Anemia, Iron-Deficiency;
Breath Tests;
Child*;
Diagnosis*;
Diagnostic Tests, Routine;
Endoscopy;
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay;
Gastritis;
Helicobacter pylori*;
Helicobacter*;
Humans;
Lymphocytes;
Lymphoid Tissue;
Lymphoma;
Peptic Ulcer;
Plasma Cells;
Urea
- From:Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
2016;19(2):96-103
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Helicobacter pylori infection is acquired mainly during childhood and causes various diseases such as gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma, and iron deficiency anemia. Although H. pylori infection in children differs from adults in many ways, this is often overlooked in clinical practice. Unlike adults, nodular gastritis may be a pathognomonic endoscopic finding of childhood H. pylori infection. Histopathological findings of gastric tissues are also different in children due to predominance of lymphocytes and plasma cells and the formation of gastric MALT. Although endoscopy is recommended for the initial diagnosis of H. pylori infection, several non-invasive diagnostic tests such as the urea breath test (UBT) and the H. pylori stool antigen test (HpSA) are available and well validated even in children. According to recent data, both the ¹³C-UBT and HpSA using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay are reliable non-invasive tests to determine H. pylori status after eradication therapy, although children younger than 6 years are known to have high false positives. When invasive or noninvasive tests are applied to children to detect H. pylori infection, it should be noted that there are differences between children and adults in diagnosing H. pylori infection.
