Frequency of Helicobacter pylori antibodies in porto-systemic encephalopathy.
OBJECTIVE
To study the frequency of Helicobacter pylori antibodies in patients presenting with porto-systemic encephalopathy due to liver disease.


METHODS
An observational, cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Different medical units at Civil Hospital, Karachi between May 2001 and April 2002.


METHODS
During the study period, seventy-six patients of porto-systemic encephalopathy due to liver diseases were selected. These subjects were evaluated for hepatic encephalopathy grade, modified Child-Pugh classification and were managed according to the standard practices. These patients were evaluated for Helicobacter (H. pylori ) antibody status by ELISA(Abbott Laboratories) method.


RESULTS
Out of 76 patients studied and tested for H. pylori antibodies, 48(63.2%) were males and 28(36.8%) were females with age ranging between 17 and 85 years. Out of 76 patients who presented with porto-systemic encephalopathy, 59(77.6%) had a positive H. pylori antibody test. Thirty five of these were males and 24 were females. A significant number of patients who presented with higher grade of encephalopathy were H. pylori antibody positive (p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
In this study, frequency of H. pylori antibodies was significantly high in patients of porto-systemic encephalopathy.
Sethar
Gul Hassan
GH
Department of Medicine, Civil Hospital, Karachi.
Ahmed
Raeefuddin
R
Zuberi
Bader Faiyaz
BF
Afsar
Salahuddin
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000150:complications*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000276:immunology*; D006501:Hepatic Encephalopathy / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial