Gastrointestinal endoscopy in the young

Efficacy of Helicobacter pylori eradication in uninvestigated chronic dyspeptic staff members of a large factory: a prospective, long-term, follow-up, workplace outcome study

BACKGROUND

Current European guidelines propose Helicobacter pylori eradication for the initial management of patients under 45 years with uninvestigated dyspepsia without alarm symptoms. Until now, no study has assessed this strategy in occupational medicine.

AIM

To investigate the outcome of H. pylori eradication in staff members of a large factory with uninvestigated chronic dyspepsia in a prospective, open, controlled, workplace outcome study in terms of the 1 year follow-up of dyspepsia and quality of life.

METHODS

In 267 subjects with uninvestigated chronic dyspepsia (229 males, mean age 42 years; range 22-62 years) H. pylori status was assessed by using the 13C-urea breath test at baseline. H. pylori-positive subjects were offered 1 week eradication therapy with omeprazole 20 mg b.i.d., clarithromycin 250 mg b.i.d., and metronidazole 400 mg b.i.d., and were retested after 2 months. Subjects with a negative 13C-urea breath test at 2 months were H. pylori-responders; subjects still H. pylori-positive at this time were H. pylori-nonresponders. H. pylori-negative subjects at baseline were included as a reference. Dyspeptic symptoms, quality of life and health care utilization were assessed by questionnaires at baseline (T0), and at 2 (T2) and 12 months (T12).

RESULTS

One hundred and eleven of 267 (41.65%) subjects were H. pylori-positive at baseline. The infection was cured in 85 of 94 (90.4%) subjects. Upper abdominal pain and dyspeptic symptoms were significantly reduced and quality of life significantly increased in H. pylori responder subjects at T12 compared to baseline and to reference subjects (P < 0.01). At T12 42.3% of H. pylori responder subjects showed complete relief of epigastric pain compared to 9.2% in the reference group (P < 0.001). Furthermore, disease-related absence from work, visits to family physicians, and antacid consumption significantly decreased in H. pylori responder subjects compared with reference subjects (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

These data suggest that an H. pylori test-and-treat strategy in occupational medicine is effective for improving uninvestigated dyspepsia and quality of life and it may reduce dyspepsia related health care costs at a level of occupational medicine.

Nonulcer dyspepsia. Current concepts and management

NUD is a common heterogeneous condition with a multifactorial cause. NUD is a cause of considerable morbidity with an annual incidence of 8% and similar incidence of spontaneous resolution. Its economic effects are considerable. The estimated annual cost to the community of NUD is $431 per patient for the initial 6 months after diagnosis. The annual Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) expenditure on acid-related disorders in one Northern California HMO was estimated to be $59.4 million, of which NUD represented a significant proportion. The association of H. pylori infection with NUD is controversial. There are strong epidemiologic evidence and supportive pathophysiological mechanisms to implicate H. pylori causally in a subset of cases. Treatment studies are likewise conflicting. Evidence suggests that treatment cannot guarantee improvement in all cases of H. pylori-related NUD but that a subset would benefit with complete symptom resolution in the long term. It is not possible currently to predict which patients would or would not respond to eradication therapy. The strength of evidence is such that empiric eradication therapy, based on noninvasive H. pylori testing, can be advocated in young patients with dyspepsia safely and effectively with resultant financial savings.

General practitioners' approach to dyspepsia. Survey of consultation frequencies, treatment, and investigations

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of patient visits for dyspepsia in primary care. The diagnostic approaches made and drug treatment given by general practitioners were recorded.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional study 36,230 patients over 15 years of age visited their health center in an area serving a population of 506,000 inhabitants, between 6 and 19 May 1991. The frequency of dyspepsia was 2.1% (n = 766). These patients formed the basis of this study.

RESULTS

The incidence of dyspepsia leading to a health center visit was 20.9/1000 inhabitants/year. Patients older than 45 years consulted their general practitioners for dyspepsia more often than younger patients. Men older than 45 years of age had had their symptoms longer before seeking medical advice than younger men or women of the same age (p = 0.03 and p < 0.05, respectively). In association with the first visit, older (over 45 years) patients were evaluated more frequently (p = 0.03) by upper gastrointestinal endoscopy than younger (15-44 years) ones. Upper abdominal ultrasound was performed almost as often as upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Sucralfate was prescribed for dyspeptic symptoms more often than H2-blockers or omeprazole, which were mainly used in patients with a definitive diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONS

The frequency of medical visits for dyspepsia increased with age. Older men sought medical advice for dyspepsia after a longer delay than others. Upper abdominal endoscopy was performed in association with the first visit in older patients more often than in younger ones.

Nature of non-ulcer dyspepsia and related conditions

To date, the precise role of Helicobacter pylori in the pathogenesis of NUD remains uncertain. There is some evidence to suggest that the organism is implicated in specific subgroups (mostly the ulcer-like form), but it is not enough for any firm conclusions to be drawn as to the importance of the bacterium as a cause of dyspeptic symptoms or as to the efficacy of anti-infective regimens in the treatment of NUD. Large, well-designed prospective studies with a long-term follow-up are needed to establish which subgroups of dyspeptic patients may benefit most from eradication of H. pylori.

Improving the selection of patients for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy

A retrospective study was undertaken to investigate how endoscopies yielding positive findings differ a priori from those yielding negative findings: and how those judged 'helpful' (in the sense of influencing management) differ a priori from those judged 'unhelpful'. A total of 483 patients undergoing endoscopy was sampled and a wide range of data abstracted, including 48 patient characteristics available to the gastroenterologist at the time of the decision to perform endoscopy. Sixty nine per cent of endoscopies were positive. Multivariate statistical analysis identified four variables which taken together were strongly predictive of a positive endoscopy. The resulting mathematical formula correctly predicted the outcome of 76% of endoscopies. Eighty two per cent of the endoscopies were retrospectively classified by the gastroenterologists as helpful. Six variables were strongly predictive of a helpful endoscopy. The corresponding formula correctly predicted the finding of 84% of endoscopies. Comparison of the two analyses shows that the two sets of predictions differ substantially. Thus it is important that decision tools should be based not on the crude distinction between positive and negative, but on the more useful distinction between helpful and unhelpful in influencing management.

Eradication of Helicobacter pylori in patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia

Non-ulcer dyspepsia is an unsatisfactory term, as it describes a spectrum of conditions. The term is used for patients who have a normal upper endoscopy, macroscopically, but who have persistent upper gastrointestinal symptoms. Patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia respond to a wide variety of treatments, and there is a strong placebo response. Fifty per cent of these patients are shown to have Helicobacter pylori present if biopsy specimens are taken at endoscopy. Previous studies suggest that H. pylori eradication improves patients' symptoms. In a study from our unit we have shown that, in the short term, patients' symptoms improved with treatment, independent of H. pylori status. However, at 1-year follow-up, prolonged improvement of symptoms was observed only in patients in whom the organism had been eradicated.

Economic costs of functional dyspepsia

Dyspepsia is defined as chronic or recurrent symptoms believed to originate in the upper gastrointestinal tract. When routine investigation results in no identifiable explanation for those symptoms patients are labelled as having functional dyspepsia. In community-based surveys, approximately 30% of the otherwise apparently healthy population report dyspeptic symptoms and the majority are believed to have functional dyspepsia. Although only 1 in 4 or 5 patients make use of healthcare resources, this patient category is one of the largest in ambulatory care (1.6 to 5% of all consultations in general practice). The annual frequency of consultations for functional dyspepsia in Sweden has been estimated at 47 per 1000 population. In consequence of its high prevalence and associated absenteeism, the total costs of functional dyspepsia are considerable. In Sweden in 1981, the costs were estimated at $US55 000 per 1000 population ($US113 630 in 1991 dollars). The most cost-effective management strategy remains to be defined. Evidence is accumulating that the traditional 'wait-and-see' policy with initial empirical therapeutic trials without investigation may not be the most cost conserving strategy.

Therapeutic trial in dyspepsia: its role in the primary care setting

Owing to the vast proportions of the dyspeptic patient population, it is not practicable to initiate diagnostic investigations immediately in every single patient who presents with dyspepsia. The risks associated with postponing definite diagnosis 4-8 weeks in dyspeptic patients aged less than 45 years are exceedingly small. Therefore, empiric therapeutic trial without a firm diagnosis is an acceptable alternative in those age groups. Those who recover during the course of the trial are spared the costs and inconvenience of invasive tests. Possible adverse consequences for the patients are minimized if the therapy covers those organic diseases that may cause complications (such as peptic ulcer and esophagitis). The concept of diagnosis-free therapeutic trials presupposes, however, that a sufficiently large number of patients are cured and that their need of investigation is permanently eliminated. If not, inevitable investigations are only postponed. In those patients the costs will thereby not only be the same as if early investigation had been carried out, but the total costs may in fact increase in a longer perspective owing to suboptimal management in the period before a firm diagnosis has been established. Thus, the ideal strategy would be to treat those who have a high probability of recovering during the ensuing 6-8 weeks and to investigate those in whom a prolonged course is anticipated. An empiric therapeutic trial must be followed by a thorough evaluation within 8 weeks.

Dyspepsia: organic causes and differential characteristics from functional dyspepsia

Diseases presenting with dyspepsia fall into two general categories: organic and functional. Overall, most patients with dyspepsia have no underlying identifiable disease process. The diagnostic yield of organic causes is less in younger patients, and, conversely, serious organic lesions are common in elderly dyspeptic patients. The commonest organic causes of dyspepsia are peptic ulcer disease, gastroesophageal reflux, biliary tract disease, and gastric cancer. Symptoms and physical signs may help to differentiate these organic causes from functional dyspepsia but endoscopic or radiographic/ultrasound studies are usually necessary to ensure the appropriate diagnosis. Less common organic causes of dyspepsia not to be overlooked include drugs, pancreatitis, malabsorption syndromes, metabolic disorders, ischemic heart disease, and collagen vascular disorders.

Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy at a student health centre

605 upper gastrointestinal endoscopies were performed at a student health centre on university students under the age of 35. Some abnormality, and sometimes more than one, was found in 291 (48.0%) patients. 93 (15.4%) had chronic superficial gastritis, 36 (5.9%) acute gastritis, three had atrophic gastritis, and two eosinophilic gastritis. 53 patients (8.7%) had an oesophageal abnormality. Coeliac disease was found in 16 (2.6%) and new cases of duodenal ulcer in 14 (2.3%). 19 patients (3.1%) had gastric polyps. It is concluded that upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is a procedure well suited for primary health care, and that a significant proportion of young adults examined for abdominal complaints in such a setting will be found to have some abnormality.

Do young patients with dyspepsia need investigation?

During 1986, 1386 patients with simple dyspepsia were referred by general practitioners for endoscopy (686) or double-contrast barium meal examination (700) at Leicester General Hospital. 618 (45%) were under the age of 45 years. Abnormal findings were more common in older than younger dyspeptic patients (58% vs 40% at endoscopy, 69% vs 25% by barium meal). Malignant disorders were diagnosed in 5% at endoscopy and 3% at barium meal, but in no patient under 45 years old. The incidence of malignant disorders at endoscopy was analysed for the 6 years 1980-86. Of 707 cases identified, only 13 (1.8%) occurred in patients under 45 years old; all 13 had symptoms suggesting pathology more serious than simple dyspepsia. It can be concluded that young patients with simple dyspepsia are overinvestigated. A majority can be treated safely with antacids and/or histamine receptor type 2 antagonists.