Regular arrangement of collecting venules: Does patient age affect its accuracy?

Table 1 The age, sex, Helicobacter pylori status and grade of gastric atrophy of group "A", "B" and "C" patients n (%)

	Total	Group A	Group B	Group C	P value
Number	390	24 (6.2)	85 (21.7)	280 (71.8)
Age (mean ± SD) years	62.9 ± 13	48.5 ± 15.7	57 ± 13.2	66 ± 11.1	≤ 0.001
< 60 years	139 (35.6)	19 (13.7)	47 (33.8)	73 (52.5)
≥ 60 years	251 (64.4)	5 (2)	38 (15.2)	207 (82.8)
Gender					> 0.05
Male	198 (50.8)	8 (4.1)	44 (22.3)	145 (73.6)
Female	192 (49.2)	16 (8.3)	41 (21.4)	135 (70.3)
H. pylori status					≤ 0.001, r = -0.29
Positive	229 (58.7)	2 (8.3)	42 (49.4)	185 (66.1)
Negative	161(41.3)	22 (91.7)	43 (50.6)	95 (33.9)
Grade of gastric atrophy					≤ 0.001
No atrophy	22 (5.6)	10 (45.5)	5 (22.7)	7 (31.8)
Closed-type atrophy	198 (50.8)	14 (7.1)	63 (32)	120 (60.6)
Open-type atrophy	170 (43.6)	0 (0)	17 (10)	153 (90)

Categorical variables were expressed as the number and percentage; Continuous variables were expressed as mean ± SD; Helicobacter pylori: H. pylori.

Table 2 The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of regular arrangement of collecting venules as a marker for detecting Helicobacter pylori negative gastric mucosa for all patients and patients < 60 and ≥ 60 years

	All Patients(n= 390 )	< 60 years(n=139)	≥ 60 years(n= 251)	P value
Sensitivity	91.70%	94.70%	80%	≤ 0.001
Specificity	66.10%	71.20%	64.30%	> 0.05
Positive predictive value	18.80%	46.20%	5.10%	≤ 0.001
Negative predictive value	99%	98.10%	93%	> 0.05
Accuracy	68.10%	76.10%	64.60%	0.02

RAC: Regular arrangement of collecting venules; Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori).

Table 3 Correlation between Helicobacter pylori infection and regular arrangement of collecting venules in patients < 60 years and ≥ 60 years

	Patients < 60 yearsa			Patients ≥ 60 yearsb
	H. pylori negative	H. pylori positive	Total	H. pylori negative	H. pylori positive	Total
RAC positive (group A )	18	1	19	4	1	5
RAC negative (group C)	21	52	73	74	133	207

^ar = -0.43, P≤ 0.001;

^br = - 0.18, P≤ 0.003. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori); RAC: Regular arrangement of collecting venules.