Background; Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is the severe kind of nausea and vomiting of gestation. The HG incidence is about 0.5-2.0%. For the diagnosis of HG, there must be the existence of 3 or more vomiting episodes throughout the day, weight losing of more than 5%, and ketonuria. Studies have recently suggested that there is a correlation between emesis of gravidarum and HG with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. Serologically positive H. pylori infections were demonstrated in hyperemesis patients.
Aim and objectives; the current work aimed to detect the correlation between H. pylori infections and HG throughout gestation.
Subjects and methods; the current work is a case-control study carried out at the obstetric department of Al Zahra University Hospital in the interval from March 2021 till June 2021. It included 100 singleton pregnant women between 6-18 weeks of gestation that were referred from the outpatient clinic.
Results; IgM antibody titer was highly significant in cases compared to controls; also, IgM antibody titer in primigravida was highly significant in cases vs. controls. However, IgM antibody titer in multigravida was higher in cases in versus control group but without statistical significance difference. Moreover, IgM seropositivity was significantly more common in cases in comparison with controls.
Conclusion; the current study proposed that a correlation was existing among H. pylori infections and HG, permitting us to report that H. pylori must, consequently, be taken into consideration as a risk factor for HG.