Dr Ignasi Puig, the coordinator of the GOES research group, has been awarded the prize for the best oral presentation at the 35th Congress of the European Helicobacter and Microbiota Study Group (EHMSG), held in Glasgow. The winning paper was entitled Helicobacter pylori diagnostic tests used in 35,000 patients in Europe: results from the European Registry on H. pylori Management (Hp-EuReg).
The study, with a sample of almost 35,000 patients, aims to identify the diagnostic tests for Helicobacter pylori that are most frequently used in European countries and whether this use is in line with the recommendations of international guidelines. The results, which reveal significant heterogeneity between the different countries, show that 71% of all patients (65% in the case of those under 50), have undergone an invasive test (gastroscopy) to diagnose Helicobacter pylori.
This figure highlights the overuse of the gastroscopy to diagnose H. pylori and the need to increase the use of non-invasive methods such as breath test or stool antigen, which show similar effectiveness. It should be recalled that Helicobacter pylori infection is the most common chronic infection worldwide and represents the leading cause of pathologies such as chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer, and gastric cancer.
Puig was the supervisor of this study, a subproject of the European Registry on the Management of Helicobacter Pylori Infection, which was carried out by the predoctoral researcher Natalia Garcia Morales (Hospital Álvaro Cunqueiro de Vigo) and presented by Dr Laimas Jonaitis (Lithuanian University of Health Sciences).
You can check the award-winning oral communication via this link.
