[The effect of Helicobacter pylori on the development of complications in the stomach and duodenum of patients with rheumatic diseases].

Biopsy material of gastric mucosa obtained from 94 patients with rheumatic diseases was subjected to bacterioscopic, biochemical and microbiological studies. Helicobacter pylori was found in 29% of patients with rheumatism, in 34.3% of patients with rheumatic arthritis and in 39.9% of those suffering from osteoarthrosis deformans. The study confirms that the microorganisms found in gastric and duodenal mucosa should be considered as a saprophytic microflora which promotes inflammatory process.