High incidence of Helicobacter pylori infection detected serologically in the residual stomach caused by gastric cancer.

Helicobacter pylori (HP) may be involved in the pathogenesis of chronic gastritis, gastric ulcer and intestinal-type gastric cancer. In the present study, we detected HP infection serologically after gastric surgery by measuring the serum anti-HP IgG levels and determining their correlation with the serum gastrin levels. The HP-infection rate after distal gastrectomy was 81.5% (75/92), which was higher than that after total gastrectomy 17.2% (5/29). The serum gastrin levels after distal gastrectomy were within the normal range and there was no significant correlation between the serum gastrin level and serologically detected HP infection, nor between the number of days after distal gastrectomy and HP infection. The high HP infection incidence after distal gastrectomy was confirmed serologically and endoscopically, suggesting HP infection plays some role in the superficial gastritis of the residual stomach without correlating with the serum gastrin levels.