Gastrospirillum Hominis—Associated Chronic Active Gastritis

Abstract

A 16-year-old Caucasian male presented with nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Endoscopy revealed erythematous antral mucosa with four discrete gastric ulcers. Biopsies showed multiple spiral organisms, 4–6 μm in length, lying in the mucous layer on the surface. The organisms were strongly Giemsa positive and weakly CLOtest positive. They did not stain with Warthin-Starry silver or Gram-Weigert stains. Electron microscopy revealed fragments of Gastrospirillum hominis, with its characteristic spiral shape and length of 4 μm in the plane of section. We believe that this is one of the first reported pediatric cases in North America.

Key Words:

• chronic active gastritis
• gastric biopsy
• Gastrospirillum hominis
• Helicobacter pylori
• peptic ulcer disease