Helicobacter pylori gastritis and risk of ischaemic stroke.

OBJECTIVE To identify the association between H. Pylori gastritis and stroke. METHOD Patients with biopsy proven H. Pylori gastritis and non H. Pylori gastritis were enrolled. Patients were followed for a period of two years. RESULTS A total of 326 patients were included in the study. 162 patients were with H. Pylori gastritis. There was no significance difference in age, sex and duration of symptoms in the two groups. Three patients in H. Pylori group had stroke or TIA as compared to one in non H. Pylori group. Patients with H. Pylori gastritis were more likely to die or have cardiac and or neurological event as compared to Non H. pylori gastritis (OR 1.23, 95% CI 0.89-1.67). This relationship was not significant after adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors (AOR 0.85, 95% CI 0.45-1.31). CONCLUSION H. Pylori gastritis is not independently associated with increased risk for stroke. Larger, randomized studies are needed to confirm our findings.