Helicobacter heilmanii gastritis in polymyositis.

We report the original case of a patient with polymyositis (PM) who developed severe gastritis related to Helicobacter heilmanii. H. heilmanii eradication, using triple therapy with omeprazole, metronidazole and amoxicillin, resulted in the complete disappearance of digestive manifestations. As an association has been found between gastric adenocarcinoma/MALT lymphoma and both polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM) and H. heilmanii infection, respectively, we suspect that PM/DM patients who develop H. heilmanii infection may have a higher risk of gastric malignancy occurrence. Further studies are warranted to confirm whether Helicobacter species infections do, in fact, increase the risk of gastric adenocarcinoma/MALT lymphoma in patients with PM/DM.