Nodularity-like appearance in the cardia: novel endoscopic findings for Helicobacter pylori infection

Background and study aims Helicobacter pylori-associated nodular gastritis, which is associated with follicular lymphoid hyperplasia, is mainly recognized in the antrum. However, we have also observed nodularity-like appearance in the cardia. This study aimed to investigate the clinical significance of cardiac nodularity-like appearance in H. pylori-associated gastritis. Patients and methods Patients who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy and were evaluated for H. pylori infection for the first time were enrolled. A nodularity-like appearance in the cardia was defined as a miliary nodular appearance or scattered appearances of small circular whitish coloration. H. pylori infection was diagnosed according to serum anti-H. pylori antibody and the urea breath test or histology. Accuracy of the H. pylori infection diagnoses based on nodularity-like appearance were assessed. Results Among 265 patients, 42 patients (15.8 %) were diagnosed as positive for H. pylori. Cardiac nodularity-like appearance and antral nodularity were recognized in 25 and 15 patients, respectively. In accuracy of predicting H. pylori by cardiac nodularity-like appearance, specificity was 0.996, sensitivity was 0.571, positive predictive value was 0.960, negative predictive value was 0.925, and accuracy was 0.928. The sensitivity of cardiac nodularity-like appearance was significantly higher than that of antral nodularity (P = 0.0284). Conclusions Cardiac nodularity-like appearance had a high accuracy rate for H. pylori infection diagnosis. Cardiac nodularity-like appearance was found more frequently than antral nodularity.