Helicobacter pylori infection differential diagnosis

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Yamuna Kondapally, M.B.B.S[2]

Overview

Helicobacter pylori infection must be differentiated from other diseases that cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, epigastric pain and unexplained weight loss such as atrophic gastritis, GERD, gastrinoma, peptic ulcer disease, gastric adenocarcinoma, stress-induced gastritis and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Differential Diagnosis

H. pylori infection must be differentiated from:

Disease	Cause	Symptoms									Diagnosis	Other findings
		Pain			Nausea & Vomiting	Heartburn	Belching or Bloating	Weight loss	Loss of Appetite	Stools	Endoscopy findings
		Location	Aggravating Factors	Alleviating Factors
Acute gastritis	H. pylori NSAIDS Corticosteroids Alcohol Spicy food Viral infections Crohn's disease Autoimmune diseases Bile reflux Cocaine use Breathing machine or ventilator Ingestion of corrosives	Epigastric pain	Food	Antacids	✔	✔	✔	-	✔	Black stools	Pangastritis or antral gastritis Erosive (Superficial, deep, hemorrhagic) Nonerosive (H. pylori)	-
Chronic gastritis	H. pylori Alcohol Medications Autoimmune diseases Chronic stress	Epigastric pain	Food	Antacids	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	-	H. pylori gastritis Atrophy Intestinal metaplasia Lymphocytic gastritis Enlarged folds Aphthoid erosions	-
Atrophic gastritis	H. pylori Autoimmune disease	Epigastric pain	-	-	✔	-		✔	✔	-	H. pylori Mucosal atrophy Autoimmune Mucosal atrophy	Iron deficiency anemia Autoimmune gastritis diagnosis include: Antiparietal and anti-IF antibodies Achlorhydria and hypergastrinemia Low serum cobalamine
Crohn's disease	Autoimmune disease	Abdominal pain	-	-	-	-	-	✔	✔	Chronic diarrhea often bloody with pus or mucus Rectal bleeding	Mucosal nodularity with cobblestoning Multiple aphthous ulcers Linier or serpiginous ulcerations Thickened antral folds Antral narrowing Hypoperistalsis Duodenal strictures	Fever Fatigue Anemia (pernicious anemia)
GERD	Lower esophageal sphincter abnormalities Hiatal hernia Abnormal esophageal contractions Prolonged emptying of stomach Gastrinomas	Epigastric pain	Spicy food Tight fitting clothing	Antacids Head elevation during sleep	✔ (Suspect delayed gastric emptying)	✔	-	-	-	-	Esophagitis Barrette esophagus Strictures	Other symptoms: Dysphagia Regurgitation Nocturnal cough Hoarseness Complications Esophagitis Strictures Barrette esophagus
Peptic ulcer disease	H. pylori Smoking Alcohol Radiation therapy Medications Zollinger-ellison syndrome	Epigastric pain sometimes extending to back Right upper quadrant pain	Duodenal ulcer Pain aggravates with empty stomach Gastric ulcer Pain aggravates with food	Antacids Duodenal ulcer Pain alleviates with food	✔	✔	-	-	-	Black stools	Gastric ulcers Discrete mucosal lesions with a punched-out smooth ulcer base with whitish fibrinoid base Most ulcers are at the junction of fundus and antrum 0.5-2.5cm Duodenal ulcers Well-demarcated break in the mucosa that may extend into the muscularis propria of the duodenum Found in the first part of duodenum <1cm	Other diagnostic tests Serum gastrin levels Secretin stimulation test Biopsy
Gastrinoma	Associated with MEN type 1	Abdominal pain	-	-	✔ (suspect gastric outlet obstruction)	✔	-	-	-	Black stools	Useful in collecting the tissue for biopsy	May present with symptoms of GERD or peptic ulcer disease Associated with MEN type 1 Diagnostic tests Serum gastrin levels Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy CT and MRI
Gastric Adenocarcinoma	H. pylori infection Smoked and salted food	Abdominal pain	-	-	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	Black stools, or blood in stools	Esophagogastroduodenoscopy Multiple biopsies are taken to establish the diagnosis	Other symptoms Dysphagia Early satiety Frequent burping
Primary gastric lymphoma	H. pylori infection	Abdominal pain Chest pain	-	-	-	-	-	✔	-	-	Useful in collecting the tissue for biopsy	Other symptoms Painless swollen lymph nodes in neck and armpit Night sweats Fatigue Fever Cough or trouble breathing