Histopathological Findings in Morbid Obese Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy: Does H. pylori Infection Effective on Pathological Changes?

AıM: To determine the prevalence of histopathological findings requiring clinical follow-up in morbidly obese patients undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) and evaluate the relationship between these findings and Helicobacter pylori as well as to add more data to the published literature in this regard. MATERıAL AND METHODS: Overall, 161 morbidly obese patients with body mass index (BMI) > 40 kg/m2 who underwent LSG between May 1, 2014 and May 31, 2017 were retrospectively included in the study. The findings of the histopathological evaluation of the resected gastric material and the relationship between these findings and histopathologically detected H. pylori infection were investigated.
RESULTS: The study included 114 women (70.8%) and 47 men (29.2%). The mean age of the patients was 36.82 ± 10.41 years, and the mean BMI was 46.05 ± 3.76 kg/m2. H. pylori infection was detected in 103 (64%), chronic gastritis in 156, chronic active gastritis in 47, intestinal metaplasia in eight, and atrophy in seven patients. The rate of H. pylori-associated chronic gastritis was 64%, that of chronic active gastritis was 24.2%, that of lymphoid aggregation was 62.2%, and that of intestinal metaplasia and atrophy was 3.1%. There was a significant relationship between H. pylori infection and chronic gastritis, chronic active gastritis, and lymphoid aggregation; however, no significant relationship was found between intestinal metaplasia and atrophy. CONCLUSıON: Clinicians should be aware of the histopathological findings requiring clinical follow-up for LSG-treated patients. Given the complications of H. pylori infection such as lymphoma and malignancy, periodic follow-up of patients and eradication therapy may be a suitable approach for treating intestinal metaplasia and atrophic changes.