ACTA FAC. MED. NAISS. 2003; 20 (1): 29 - 32

Review articles

DETECTION OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI IN GASTRIC BIOPSY AND RESECTED SPECIMENS

T. Babić¹, H. Bašić², V. Katić², M. Otašević^1
1Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, ²Institute of Pathology, University of Niš Serbia and Montenegro
 

SUMMARY

Introduction: A number of methods are currently available for the detecion of H. pylori, but histological detection in a gastric biopsy is the commonest and among the most sensitive.
Aim: To compare the sensitivity of detecting H. pylori in gastric biopsy and resection specimens using haematoxylin and eosin (HE) stain and modified Giemsa stain.
Methods: Formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded tissue from 28 gastric biopsy specimens showing chronic gastritis together with tissue blocks from gastrectomy specimens for duodenal ulcer (2 cases ) were histology reviewed. The paraffin sections were stained with classical histological HE and modified Giemsa method for diagnosis of H. pylori.
Results: HE-stained H. pylori appeared as slightly basophilic, spiral-shaped organisms attached to the apical surface of the surface mucous cells. However, curved bacteria were only detected when found in great numbers. In some cases masked bacteria hidden within mucous were obvious only in modified Giemsa preparations. Using a modified Giemsa stain, the spiral shaped bacteria of H. pylori stained blue, were attached to the brush border of the gastric foveolar epithelial cells and inside gastric pits. H. pylori was identified in 36.6% sections stained with HE. It was detected with greater frequency in sections stained with modified Giemsa (in 78.3%). In all cases the bacteria were more prominent and easier to detect in the modified Giemsa sections.
Conclusion: Giemsa modified technique is a highly sensitive, economical and easy to use method for detecting H. pylori in gastric biopsy and resection specimens.

Key words: Helicobacter organisms, histological identification, staining methods