Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori Infection Among Rosacea and Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria Patients in a Tertiary Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background: The multifactorial nature of rosacea and chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) pathogenesis complicates the achievement of satisfactory treatment outcomes. 13C urea breath test (UBT) has been identified as an accurate, non-invasive, and quick procedure to detect the presence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) with high sensitivity and specificity. Objective: In this study, we aim to assess the correlation between H. pylori infection and rosacea and CSU patients. Methods: A cross-sectional, observational study was conducted on patients with rosacea and CSU in the dermatology clinic at King Khalid University Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. History and physical examination were performed by a dermatologist. H. pylori 13C-UBT detection was performed in all subjects. Results: In total, 114 patients were included in this current study, with 41 rosacea and 73 urticaria patients. The vast majority of our subjects were females (96.5%). The mean (±SD) age was 42.3 (±12.7). More than half (58.8%) of the examined samples were positive for 13C-UBT; however, positive results were significantly higher in the rosacea patients (73.2%) compared to the urticaria group (50.7%), with a p-value of 0.019. Conclusion: Our findings underline the significant association of H. pylori with rosacea and CSU regardless of the presence or absence of gastrointestinal symptoms. We thus recommend the inclusion of H. pylori testing in the routine workup of CSU and rosacea patients.