Helicobacter pylori infection in patients with epilepsy

BACKGROUND The possible role of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection in extra-intestinal diseases has been suggested. The main purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of infection with HP in two groups of patients with epilepsy: patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) and patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), compared to healthy controls. METHODS In this cross-sectional study a random sample of adult patients above 18 years of age with a diagnosis of IGE or TLE were recruited at the outpatient epilepsy clinic at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, from January 2009 through June 2011. A group of healthy individuals were included as control group. For all patients and controls a urea breath test (UBT) was requested. RESULTS Thirty-four patients with IGE, 28 patients with TLE and 33 individuals as control were recruited. Positive UBT was observed in 21 individuals (61.8%) with IGE, 50% (14 patients) of patients with TLE and 72.7% (24 individuals) in control group. The difference between patients with IGE and control group was not significant (P=0.3). The difference between patients with TLE and control group was not significant either (P=0.068). CONCLUSION The rate of HP infection was not higher in patients with epilepsy compared to healthy individuals. At the moment, there is not enough epidemiological data to support the role of HP infection in patients with either IGE or TLE.