The Assessment of Gastric Antral Wall Thickness in Helicobacter pylori gastritis by Abdominal Ultrasonography, Case-Control Study (2016-2018)

Background and Aim: Abdominal ultrasonography is effective in the visualization of gastric wall layers and measuring its thickness. The study aimed to assess gastric antral wall thickness in patients with H. pylori gastritis by abdominal ultrasonography and to study its predictive value in detecting H. pylori gastritis. Materials and Methods: The study included ninety adult individuals, sixty of them had dyspepsia and/or upper abdominal pain and histologically confirmed gastritis, were distributed equally according to the H. pylori infection status into group A (H. pylori gastritis) or B (non-H. pylori gastritis), while, group C included thirty asymptomatic participants with negative H. pylori screening. The participants were subjected to abdominal sonography for measuring the antral wall thickness (AWT), mucosal wall thickness (MLT) and mucosal-to-antral wall thickness ratio (MLT/AWT ratio). Results: The AWT, MLT and MLT/AWT ratio were significantly greater in H. pylori gastritis group (5.65 ± 0.58, 3.02 ± 0.43, 0.53 ± 0.04 respectively) than non-H. pylori gastritis group (4.57± 0.82, 2.07± 0.41, 0.45 ± 0.02 respectively) and control group (3.93 ± 0.52, 1.49 ± 0.2, 20.37± 0.03 respectively). The optimal cut off values of AWT, MLT and MLT/AWT ratio for detecting the of H. pylori infection among symptomatic gastritis patients were > 4.94 mm, > 2.46 mm and > 0.48 mm respectively. Conclusion: Ultrasonography of the gastric antrum is considered beneficial in evaluating patients with presumed gastritis. The increase of AWT > 4.94 mm, MLT > 2.46 mm, and MLT/AWT ratio > 0.48 mm in patients with gastritis is suggestive of H. pylori infection.