Copyright 2011 by ESPGHAN and NASPGHAN. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
Evidence-based Guidelines From ESPGHAN and
NASPGHAN for Helicobacter pylori Infection in Children
Ã
Sibylle Koletzko,
y
Nicola L. Jones,
z
Karen J. Goodman,
§
Benjamin Gold,
jj
Marion Rowland,
ô
Samy Cadranel,
#
Sonny Chong,
ÃÃ
Richard B. Colletti,
yy
Thomas Casswall,
§§
Jeannette Guarner,
jjjj
Nicolas Kalach,
ôô
Armando Madrazo,
##
Francis Megraud, and
ÃÃÃ
Giuseppina Oderda, on Behalf of the H pylori Working Groups of ESPGHAN and NASPGHAN
ABSTRACT
Objective: As the clinical implications of Helicobacter pylori infection in
children and adolescents continue to evolve, ESPGHAN and NASPGHAN
jointly renewed clinical guidelines using a standardized evidence-based
approach to develop updated recommendations for children and adolescents
in North America and Europe.
Methods: An international panel of 11 pediatric gastroenterologists,
2 epidemiologists, 1 microbiologist, and 1 pathologist was selected by
societies that developed evidence-based guidelines based on the Delphi
process with anonymous voting in a final face-to-face meeting. A systematic
literature search was performed on 8 databases of relevance including
publications from January 2000 to December 2009. After excluding
nonrelevant publications, tables of evidence were constructed for
different focus areas according to the Oxford classification. Statements
and recommendations were formulated in the following areas: whom to
test, how to test, whom to treat, and how to treat. Grades of evidence were
assigned to each recommendation based on the GRADE system.
Results: A total of 2290 publications were identified, from which 738 were
finally reviewed. A total of 21 recommendations were generated, and an
algorithm was proposed by the joint committee providing evidence-based
guidelines on the diagnostic workup and treatment of children with H pylori
infection.
Conclusions: These clinical practice guidelines represent updated, best-
available evidence and are meant for children and adolescents living in
Europe and North America, but they may not apply to those living on other
continents, particularly in developing countries with a high H pylori
infection rate and limited health care resources.
Key Words:
antibiotic resistance, children and adolescents, diagnostic
tests, Helicobacter pylori, treatment
(JPGN 2011;53: 230–243)
SYNOPSIS
T
he current recommendations for managing Helicobacter
pylori
infection in children are as follows:
1.
The primary goal of clinical investigation of gastrointestinal
symptoms is to determine the underlying cause of the
symptoms and not solely the presence of H pylori infection.
2.
Diagnostic testing for H pylori infection is not recommended
in children with functional abdominal pain.
3.
In children with first-degree relatives with gastric cancer,
testing for H pylori may be considered.
4.
In children with refractory iron-deficiency anemia, in which
other causes have been ruled out, testing for H pylori infection
may be considered.
5.
There is insufficient evidence that H pylori infection is
causally related to otitis media, upper respiratory tract
infections, periodontal disease, food allergy, sudden infant
death syndrome (SIDS), idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura,
and short stature.
6.
For the diagnosis of H pylori infection during esophagogas-
troduodenoscopy (EGD), it is recommended that gastric
biopsies (antrum and corpus) for histopathology be obtained.
7.
It is recommended that the initial diagnosis of H pylori
infection be based on either a positive histopathology plus a
positive rapid urease test or a positive culture.
8.
The
13
C-urea breath test (UBT) is a reliable noninvasive test to
determine whether H pylori has been eradicated.
9.
A validated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
test for detection of H pylori antigen in stool is a reliable
Received March 28, 2011; accepted March 29, 2011.
From the
Ã
Dr von Haunersches Kinderspital, Ludwig-Maximilians-
University of Munich, Munich, Germany, the yDivision of Gastroenter-
ology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, SickKids Hospital, University of
Toronto, Toronto, the zDepartment of Medicine, University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Canada, the §Children’s Center for Digestive Healthcare,
Atlanta, GA, the jjChildren’s Research Centre, Our Lady’s Hospital for
Sick Children, Crumlin, Ireland, the ôQueen Fabiola Children’s Hospi-
tal, Brussels, Belgium, the #Queen Mary’s Hospital for Children,
Carshalton, Surrey, UK, the
ÃÃ
Department of Pediatrics, University
of Vermont, Burlington, VT, the yyDivision of Paediatrics, Karolinska
University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, the zzDepartment of
Pediatrics, Marshall University, Huntington, WV, the §§Department
of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta,
GA, the jjjjSt Antoine Pediatric Clinic, Faculte´ Libre de Me´decine,
Lille, France, the ôôHospital de Pediatria, Centro Medico Nacional
Siglo XXI, Mexico City, Mexico, the ##Laboratoire de Bacte´riologie,
Hoˆpital Pellegrin, Bordeaux, France, and the
ÃÃÃ
Scienze Mediche,
Clinica Pediatrica, Universita degli Studi di Novara, Novarra, Italy.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Prof Dr Sibylle Koletzko,
MD, Dr von Haunersches Kinderspital, Ludwig-Maximilians-Univer-
sity of Munich, Lindwurmstraße 4, D-80337 Munich, Germany (e-mail:
sibylle.koletzko@med.uni-muenchen.de).
The authors report no conflicts of interest other than those reported on the
ESPGHAN and NASPGHAN Web sites.
Sibylle Koletzko and Nicola Jones contributed equally to this article.
Copyright
#
2011 by European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology,
Hepatology, and Nutrition and North American Society for Pediatric
Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
DOI: 10.1097/MPG.0b013e3182227e90
C
LINICAL
G
UIDELINES
230
JPGN
Volume 53, Number 2, August 2011
Copyright 2011 by ESPGHAN and NASPGHAN. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
noninvasive test to determine whether H pylori has been
eradicated.
10. Tests based on the detection of antibodies (IgG, IgA) against
H pylori in serum, whole blood, urine, and saliva are not
reliable for use in the clinical setting.
11. It is recommended that clinicians wait at least 2 weeks after
stopping proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy and 4 weeks
after stopping antibiotics to perform biopsy-based and
noninvasive tests (UBT, stool test) for H pylori.
12. In the presence of H pylori–positive peptic ulcer disease
(PUD), eradication of the organism is recommended.
13. When H pylori infection is detected by biopsy-based methods
in the absence of PUD, H pylori treatment may be considered.
14. A ‘‘test and treat’’ strategy is not recommended in children.
15. In children who are infected with H pylori and whose first-
degree relative has gastric cancer, treatment may be offered.
16. Surveillance of antibiotic resistance rates of H pylori strains in
children and adolescents is recommended in the different
countries and geographic areas.
17. First-line eradication regimens are the following: triple therapy
with a PPI
þ amoxicillin þ clarithromyin or an imidazole
or bismuth salts
þ amoxicillin þ an imidazole or sequential
therapy.
18. Antibiotic susceptibility testing for clarithromycin is recom-
mended before initial clarithromycin-based triple therapy in
areas/populations with a known high resistance rate (>20%)
of H pylori to clarithromycin (Fig. 1).
19. It is recommended that the duration of triple therapy be 7 to
14 days. Costs, compliance, and adverse effects should be
taken into account.
20. A reliable noninvasive test for eradication is recom-
mended at least 4 to 8 weeks following completion of
therapy.
21. If treatment has failed, 3 options are recommended: EGD, with
culture and susceptibility testing including alternative
antibiotics, if not performed before guide therapy; fluor-
escence in situ hybridization (FISH) on previous paraffin-
embedded biopsies if clarithromycin susceptibility testing has
not been performed before guide therapy; modification of
therapy by adding an antibiotic, using different antibiotics,
adding bismuth, and/or increasing the dose and/or duration
of therapy.
H. pylori
with PUD
and/or gastritis
CLA
resistance?*
Symptoms
EGD with biopsies (with culture*)
PPI-AMO-MET
Noninvasive
test for
eradication
HP
eradicated?
Observe
CLA resistance or
prior CLA therapy?
Treat without CLA:
PPI-AMO-MET 2 weeks
or bismuth-based therapy
FISH for CLA on
paraffin slides
of first biopsies
EGD with
culture and
CLA-testing
Assess +
encourage
adherence
Treat according to
result of CLA testing
Noninvasive
test for
eradication
HP
eradicated?
Observe
Consider:
•other antibiotic
•bismuth
•quadruple therapy
•higher dosage
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
1
2
3
6
8
9
11
10
12
12
13
Unknown
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
PPI-AMO-CLA
PPI-AMO-MET
#
or
PPI-AMO-CLA
#
or
bismuth-AMO-MET or
sequential therapy
4
7
5
6
Unknown
CLA resistance or
prior CLA therapy?
FIGURE 1. Proposed algorithm of how to treat Helicobacter pylori infection in pediatric patients. AMO ¼ amoxicillin; CLA ¼
clarithromycin; EGD ¼ esophagogastroduodenoscopy; FISH ¼ fluorescence in situ hybridization; HP ¼ H pylori; MET ¼
metronidazole; PPI ¼ proton pump inhibitor; PUD ¼ peptic ulcer disease.
Ã
In areas or populations with a primary clarithromycin-
resistance rate of >20% or unknown background antibiotic resistance rates, culture and susceptibility testing should be
performed and the treatment should be chosen accordingly.
#
If susceptibility testing has not been performed or has failed,
antibiotics should be chosen according to the background of the child (1).
JPGN
Volume 53, Number 2, August 2011
Recommendations for H pylori Infection in Children
www.jpgn.org
231
Copyright 2011 by ESPGHAN and NASPGHAN. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
1. SCOPE AND PURPOSE
1.1. Introduction and Aims
Children differ from adults with respect to H pylori infection
in terms of the prevalence of the infection, the complication rate, the
near-absence of gastric malignancies, age-specific problems with
diagnostic tests and drugs, and a higher rate of antibiotic resistance.
Compared with adults, PUD is found less often in infected children
undergoing upper endoscopy. In a large European multicenter study
including 1233 symptomatic children with H pylori infection, PUD
was diagnosed in <5% of children younger than 12 years of age
and
$10% of teenagers (1). Gastric malignancies associated with
H pylori
infection typically occur in adulthood, with only a few
case reports of lymphomas in the pediatric age group (2,3). The
differential diagnosis for abdominal pain and dyspeptic symptoms
is different. Children are often unable to provide precise des-
criptions of the location and the character of the pain (4,5). Some
disorders such as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, which have
been associated with H pylori infection in adults, do not show a
relation in children, probably because of a different pathogenesis in
the pediatric population. The level of evidence for most disease
outcomes is lower. Few randomized placebo-controlled treatment
trials are available for the different outcomes, often with only small
numbers of cases included (6,7). These and other differences
explain why some of the recommendations for adults (8) may
not apply in children.
H pylori
infection is usually acquired during the first years
of life in both developing and industrialized countries (9,10). In
Europe and North America, the epidemiology of H pylori infection
in children has changed in recent decades. Low incidence rates are
found in the northern and western European countries, resulting in
prevalence far below 10% in children and adolescents. In contrast,
the infection is still common in certain geographic areas such
as southern or eastern Europe, Mexico, and certain immigrant
populations from South America, Africa, and most Asian countries,
and aboriginal people in North America (11–13). The different
prevalence of infection and the corresponding effect on health care
resources in industrialized compared with developing countries
require different recommendations with respect to testing and
treating children. These guidelines apply only to children living
in Europe and North America, but not to those living in other
continents, particularly in developing countries with a high H pylori
infection rate in children and adolescents and with limited resources
for health care. The guidelines may need to be adapted to national
health care systems because certain tests or treatment regimens may
not be available and/or reimbursed by health insurance programs.
2. DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDELINES
2.1. Selection of Topics and Patients
In 2000, the Pediatric Task Force of the H pylori Study Group
of the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepato-
logy, and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) published consensus statements
on H pylori infection in children (14). Shortly thereafter, a working
group of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroentero-
logy, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) published a Medical
Position Paper on the same topic, including recommendations for
treatment (15). In 2004, the Canadian Helicobacter Study Group
initiated a consensus conference including patients from Canada,
the United States, and Europe. Recommendations covered how to
approach H pylori infection in children (6). In 2005, ESPGHAN and
NASPGHAN decided independently to renew their guidelines, this
time with a joint evidence-based methodology. The councils of both
societies decided in 2006 that the process should be combined to
have the same recommendations for North America and Europe.
The following 4 areas were identified and covered by 4 sub-
groups, which formulated the critical questions for each area:
1.
Who should be tested? (differentiating among screening,
surveillance, and clinically based testing)
2.
What tests should be used?
3.
Who should be treated?
4.
What treatment regimens are most appropriate?
Each society assigned 1 chair (Benjamin Gold for NASP-
GHAN and Sibylle Koletzko for ESPGHAN). At least 2 members
from each society were assigned to the subgroups for the 4 areas of
interest. Members were mostly pediatric gastroenterologists, but
experts in epidemiology, microbiology, and pathology were also
selected based on their peer-reviewed publications, research acti-
vities in the field, and participation in national or international
activities. The European patients were recruited from the Pediatric
Task Force on H pylori Infection (ESPGHAN Working Group on
H pylori
) and also included a representative from the European
Helicobacter Study Group (Francis Me´graud).
2.2. Literature Search and Grading the Articles
for Quality of Evidence
A systematic literature search was designed by Karen
Goodman, an epidemiologist, using accessible databases of
relevance: PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library,
Biosis Previews, EBM Reviews, ISI Web of Science, and Scopus.
The search included publications from 2000 to August 2007. The
search included publications of all types presenting or reviewing
data on H pylori in patients younger than 20 years old, selecting on
Medical Subjects Headings (MeSH) terms as listed below, with no
language restrictions:
Search Strategy
1
Helicobacter pylori
2
Helicobacter
infection
3
pylori
4
or/1–3
5
Newborn
6
Infant
7
Child
8
Adolescent
9
Pediatrics
10
or/5–9
11
4 and 10
12
11 and py
¼ 2005:2006
13
Limit 12 to human
The search identified 1979 unique publications and an
additional 63 publications were generated from the citations of
relevant reviews. Of these 2042 papers, the following were
excluded: 800 that did not present evidence on relevant topics;
635 that did not present evidence for pediatric groups; 40 letters,
commentaries, or case reports; 33 abstracts; 25 non–English-
language publications that did not present relevant data in an
English-language abstract; and 19 nonsystematic reviews. The total
number of selected papers was 490, including 80 reviews. The
papers were grouped according to the review focus areas. Sum-
maries of review papers were prepared and tables were constructed
Koletzko et al
JPGN
Volume 53, Number 2, August 2011
232
www.jpgn.org
Copyright 2011 by ESPGHAN and NASPGHAN. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
to organize key data regarding study, quality, and findings from the
original research reports.
In addition, within each subgroup, the members were asked
to search the literature with respect to their topics to add evidence
that may have been missed by the search criteria. In particular,
this increased inclusion of publications from less widely circulated
journals and from non–English-language sources. Grading of the
quality of evidence was performed by epidemiologists and
individual group members, according to the classification system
of the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (http://www.
cebm.net/index.asp
), because this is the only grading system in
which studies of diagnostic tests can be scored accordingly. The
lists of rated articles and synthesis tables were circulated to the
subgroups, and the information was expanded or revised upon
closer inspection as appropriate.
2.3. Voting on Consensus Statements and
Grading the Statements for Quality of Evidence
In preparation for a meeting in December 2007 in Munich,
Germany, each subgroup had formulated the statements circulated
to each member of the subgroups. In addition, the European
members of the 4 subgroups presented the statements during the
annual meeting of the ESPGHAN Pediatric Task Force in October
2007 in Istanbul, Turkey, where they were extensively discussed
and adapted according to the comments of the attendees.
At the meeting in Munich, the group voted on 2 iterations of
each of the consensus statements. Statements were revised based on
feedback provided from the patients and further critical review of the
available literature. Some of the statements were deleted by voting
and the content of these was condensed into comments pertaining
to relevant statements that remained. Additional statements were
added on matters that had not been addressed previously.
All of the votes were anonymous. A 6-point scale was used:
1, agree strongly (A
þ); 2, agree moderately (A); 3, just agree (A–);
4, just disagree (D–); 5, disagree moderately (D); and 6, disagree
strongly (D
þ). Agreement with the statement (the sum of voting for
A
þ, A, or A–) by three-quarters (ie, !75%) of the voting members
was defined a priori as consensus. The level of agreement in the
final vote is provided for each statement, expressed as a percentage.
2.4. Grades of Evidence
Grades of evidence for each statement were based on the
grading of the literature and were finally assigned using the GRADE
system of 2004 (16) as follows:
1.
High: further research is unlikely to change our confidence in
the estimate of effect.
2.
Moderate: further research is likely to have an important
influence on our confidence in the estimate of effect and may
change the estimate.
3.
Low: further research is very likely to have an important
influence on our confidence in the estimate of effect and may
change the estimate.
4.
Very low: any estimate of effect is uncertain.
The designation ‘‘not applicable’’ was used for situations in
which these grades of evidence were not relevant for a particular
statement.
2.5. Consensus Meeting and Funding Sources
The Munich meeting was organized by Sibylle Koletzko and
supported financially by NASPGHAN and ESPGHAN. There was
no financial support from industry. Seven North American
members (4 from the United States, 2 from Canada, 1 from Mexico)
and 8 European members attended the final meeting. One attendee,
who was not eligible to vote, observed and documented the voting
process, which was later compared with the recorded electronic
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