Helicobacter pylori seropositivity and stool antigen in patients with
hyperemesis gravidarum
R.S. Karadeniz, M.M. Altay, O. Ozdegirmenci, A. Solaroglu, S. Dilbaz, N.
Hýzel, A. Haberal
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, SSK Maternity and Women’s
Health Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
Objective: To investigate whether Helicobacter pylori is an etiologic
factor in hiperemesis gravidarum.(HG)
Design and Methods: Thirty-one patients with HG and twenty-nine
pregnant controls without HG were included in this prospective study.
Helicobacter pylori serum Immunoglobulin G Antibody (HpIgG Ab) and Helicobacter
pylori stool antigen (HpSA) are investigated which show chronic infection and
active gastrointestinal colonization, respectively. Chi-square and Student
t-test were used accordingly for statistical analysis.
Results: Helicobacter pylori seropositivity was 67.7% in the patients
with HG, and 79.3% in the control group (c2=1.02, p=0.31). HpSA was detected in
22.6% of patients with HG whereas 6.9% of patients in the control group. The
difference was not statistically significant (c2=2.89, p=0.08).
Conclusions: In this study, no relation was found between Helicobacter
pylori and hyperemesis gravidarum. If the clinical index of suspicion from a
helicobacter pylori infection in a pregnant women is high, we recommend that
HpSA detection will be a more reliable diagnostic method since it shows an
active infection rather than a chronic one detected by HpIgG Ab.
