Abstract
Author(s): JOANNA TLOLKA, TOMASZ FUCHS, MONIKA BIERNAT, JOANNA SZYMKOWIAK, KIREKI OMANWA, MARIUSZ ZIMMER, DOMINIK MARCINIAK
Introduction. Nausea and vomiting are some of the most common symptoms of the first trimester of pregnancy and they affect about 50 to 80% of all pregnant women. In some cases these symptoms are so serious requiring hospital admission and pharmacological treatment, and in extreme cases they may lead to weight and fluids loss as well as eletrolytes imbalance, which are a definition of hyperemesis gravidarum. There are several theories connected with the etiology of this disease. In the recent past, several articles have been published trying to explain the possible role of Helicobacter pylori infection in hyperemesis gravidarum. The Aim. The aim of this article was to analyze the association between Helicobacter pylori infection and severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Materials and methods. The study population consisted of 72 pregnant women aged between 20 and 43 years, hospitalized in the II Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Neonatology in Wroc?aw between January 2006 and December 2008. 29 of them complained of severe nausea and vomiting and 43 were asymptomatic. H.pylori infection was confirmed by two separate tests: the first one - based on the detection of anti H. pylori IgG antibodies in the patients’ serum and the second one – based on the detection of H. pylori antigens in the patients’ stool. Statistical analysis was performed using the chi-square, Yates’ chi-square and the Fisher exact tests. Results. In the serological test 9 (31%) of the 29 patients with severe nausea and vomiting and 16 (37.2%) of the 43 asymptomatic women were positive for anti-H.pylori IgG antibody. In the “stool” test 9 patients from the first group (31%) and 17 patients from the second group (39.5%) had the ongoing infection with H.pylori (presence of the specific antigen in the stool). There were no statistically significant relation between H.pylori infection and severe nausea and hyperemesis gravidarum during pregnancy (confidence interval p=0.05). Conclusion. Our study does not support an association between H.pylori infection and severe nausea and hyperemesis gravidarum during pregnancy.