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BackgroundThe term nodular is not included in the Sydney classification and there is no widely accepted histopathological definition. It has been proposed that the presence of antral nodularity could predict Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of nodular gastritis (NG) for H. pylori infection after a rigorous standardization process, and to describe the associated histopathological characteristics.Materials and methodsEndoscopic images of patients submitted to endoscopy with biopsy sampling were included. Endoscopic images were distributed among six endoscopists. The analysis was performed sequentially in three rounds: the first round assessed the interobserver variability, the second evaluated the intraobserver variability, and the third calculated the interobserver variability after training. A correlation analysis between endoscopic and histopathological findings was performed.ResultsA total of 917 studies were included. In the first analysis of interobserver variability, a poor kappa value (0.078) was obtained. The second evaluation yielded good intraobserver variability, with kappa values of 0.62–0.86. The evaluation of interobserver variability after training revealed an improvement in the kappa value of 0.42. A correlation was found between endoscopic images and histopathological reports.ConclusionThere was a strong correlation between NG and H. pylori, but only after rigorous evaluation. The use of the term NG requires extensive standardization before it can be used clinically.

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Patients with chronic disorders like non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) face important challenges adhering to diagnostic and treatment tracks. As NAFLD increases, the need to incentivize health-seeking behaviors grows. No evidence-based interventions to address this gap exist. The aim of the study was to estimate the effect of providing increasing levels of diagnostic information on medical care-seeking in adults newly diagnosed with NAFLD. We randomly assigned adults with a sonographic diagnosis of NAFLD at a check-up unit in Mexico to one of five groups. All groups received medical consultation. A: no further interventions; B: received multimedia educational material (MEM); C: MEM + NAFLD-fibrosis-score (NFS); D: MEM + transient elastography (TE); E: MEM + NFS + TE. 1209 participants were randomized, follow-up rate 91%; 82% male, BMI 30.5 ± 4 kg/m2. There were no differences in the proportion of patients undergoing further diagnostic evaluation of liver fibrosis (A 0.4%, E 0.4%, P-for-trend = 0.269). Groups who received more information sought specialized medical care more frequently: A 22%, E 30% (P-for-trend = 0.047). A trend to receive treatment was also observed at higher levels of information: A 26.7%, E 36.3% (P-for-trend = 0.134). Increasing the amount of diagnostic information seemed to increase patient’s health-seeking. Tailoring the communication of information obtained for diagnosis could help to increase health-seeking in chronic disease patients.Trial registration: NCT01874249 (full date of first registration 11-06-2013).