It is necessary to know the causes of dyspepsia to establish the therapeutic approach. Dyspepsia is a frequent syndrome our country, while there are restrictions to endoscopy and high prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. This study was conducted to evaluate the endoscopic findings of the syndrome, in an outpatient screening clinic of the Baqiyatallah Hospital in Tehran, Iran. Between 20 March and 20 November 2015 and according to Rome III criteria, outpatients with uninvestigated dyspepsia, answered Dyspepsia Hong Kong Index Questionnaire and underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy. The Rapid Urease Test was applied to fragments of the antral mucosa, and epidemiological data were collected from the studied population. Normal endoscopic findings were analyzed with different variables to verify statistically significant associations.

 Eventually 400 patients (57.5% males and 42.5% females) with the mean age of 51.32 ± 17.98 years were evaluated. About 55% of them were smokers and 45% used NSAID. H. pylori (80%) were the most endoscopic findings between Endoscopic findings. Among positive and negative H. pylori patients, 56.25% and 50% were smokers respectively. All patients with gastric adenocarcinoma (100%) and 13.2% patients without gastric adenocarcinoma were with fundus, body or antrum ulcer.Predominance of functional disease was showed in our setting by the endoscopic diagnosis of uninvestigated dyspepsia. Although the prevalence of H. pylori was high, cancer was an uncommon finding. Dyspepsia is a prevalent complaint in general and gastrointestinal clinics, with a prevalence of up to about 30% among adults in Iran. Dyspepsia is a complex condition, including upper gastrointestinal tract with chronic and recurrent symptoms, including epigastric pain, discomfort, including postprandial fullness and early satiety, which may overlap with heartburn and regurgitation. The symptoms of dyspepsia could be occurred due to an important structural pathology such as chronic peptic ulcer disease, gastroesophageal reflux, malignancy or it can also present as functional dyspepsia (without evidence of organic cause). Over 80% of the population are affected by dyspepsia at some time in their life Worldwide investigations have shown that the prevalence of dyspepsia is in the range of 14.5-45%

With Regards,
Sara Giselle
Associate Managing Editor
Global Journal of Digestive Diseases