P1343 - A Retrospective Analysis of Helicobacter pylori Treatment and Follow-Up in a Tertiary Hospital in West Virginia

Onyinye Ugonabo, MD¹, Mohammed El-Dallal, MD¹, M'hamed Turki, MD¹, Joseph O. Atarere, MD, MPH², Jennifer Wiese, MD¹, Adnan Elghezewi, MD¹, Ahmed Sherif, MD¹, Wesam Frandah, MD^1
1Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Huntington, WV; ²MedStar Health, Baltimore, MD

Introduction: Helicobacter pylori infection (H. Pylori) affects approximately 36% of the United States population and colonizes 50% of the world’s population for life unless eradicated with antibiotics. Colonization with this organism is the main risk factor for peptic ulcer, gastric lymphoid lymphoma, and gastric adenocarcinoma. Our study aims to ascertain the follow-up of H. Pylori-positive patients in a tertiary hospital and treatment eradication.

Methods: We studied 153 patients who tested positive for H. Pylori infection in Cabell Huntington Hospital between July 2021 and March 2023. Patients were classified into treated and untreated groups. The two groups were compared based on their demographics, BMI, EGD findings, and departments involved. Student t-test was used to compare continuous variables and the chi test for the categorical variables. A subgroup analysis of the treated group was done based on the type of therapy received and the follow-up fecal antigen test for H. Pylori eradication. P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: We found that 72.5% (n = 111) of patients that tested positive for H. Pylori, were treated. Amongst the treated, 95% had EGD procedures done by Gastroenterology (GI) service. On the untreated arm (n= 42), EGD was done by surgery service in 45% as against 26% by GI service (P value = < 0.001). Those treated were more likely to be prescribed quadruple therapy than triple therapy (p-value = 0.001). We found that positive biopsies after sleeve gastrectomy were unlikely to be treated (P-value = < 0.001). Hiatal hernia was present in 86% of treated versus 20% of untreated (p-value = 0.001). Only 32% of the treated patients had repeat H. Pylori testing (fecal antigen) done to check for eradication, of which 27% tested positive (p-value = 0.001), figure 1. Though not significant, the severity of gastritis was higher in treated versus untreated (p-value = 0.071).

Discussion: Long-term carriage of H. Pylori increases the risk of site-specific diseases. Our study showed that 27.5% of H. Pylori-positive patients were untreated. In general, even though the GI department had the highest number of patients treated, all departments have room for improvement regarding patient follow-up. We advocate for further education regarding H. Pylori treatment and confirmatory eradication tests (fecal antigen) to improve patient care overall.




Disclosures:


Onyinye Ugonabo, MD¹, Mohammed El-Dallal, MD¹, M'hamed Turki, MD¹, Joseph O. Atarere, MD, MPH², Jennifer Wiese, MD¹, Adnan Elghezewi, MD¹, Ahmed Sherif, MD¹, Wesam Frandah, MD¹. P1343 - A Retrospective Analysis of Helicobacter pylori Treatment and Follow-Up in a Tertiary Hospital in West Virginia, ACG 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Vancouver, BC, Canada: American College of Gastroenterology.