[Special clinical manifestations of Helicobacter pylori infection in children and adolescents].

During the period 1989-1996, we retrospectively investigated 104 children and adolescents with Helicobacter pylori infection diagnosed by gastroscopy. The median age was 12.11 +/- 3.31 years, 55% were female and 45% male. The chief complaint of 92% of the children was abdominal pain, mainly epigastric. The typical macroscopic finding was nodular gastritis. The most common microscopic picture was chronic superficial gastritis with lymphatic follicles and the presence of Helicobacter pylori. We demonstrated correlation between these gastroscopic and histological findings. Children who suffered from peptic ulcer were older than those with nodular gastritis. Most of the Helicobacter pylori positive patients were treated with triple drug therapy. The combination of drugs changed throughout the years according to the newly accepted strategies in the treatment of Helicobacter pylori. The majority of children reported a decrease in symptoms on completion of therapy. Urea breath test was an efficient and convenient method for the follow-up of patients with Helicobacter pylori infection.