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Background and Aims: Helicobacter pylori (HP) culture for diagnosing HP infection is time‐consuming and technologically complex. This study evaluated the clinical significance of gastric mucosal gene chip technology in the rapid diagnosis of HP infection and detection of drug resistance in children. Methods: Patients (between the age of 2.5 and 16.0 years old) manifesting gastrointestinal symptoms were enrolled in this study. HP culture of gastric mucosa and drug sensitivity test were performed. A gene chip of gastric mucosa was used to detect the presence of HP infection, some single nucleotide polymorphisms in HP drug resistance genes, or associated gene mutation. DNA sequencing was investigated and compared with the gene chip test results. Results: Out of 267 cases, HP culture was positive in 169 cases and negative in 98 cases. HP detection by the gene chip method was positive in 208 cases and negative in 59 cases. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the gene chip technology for diagnosing HP infection were 96.1, 85.0, and 93.6%, respectively. HP resistance gene locus using the gene chip showed the main mutation locus of clarithromycin to be 2143A/G, levofloxacin at locus GyrA 91 and GyrA 87, and amoxicillin at PBP1 556ser. Concordance rates between gene chip and DNA sequencing for VacA‐S/M, 16S rRNA, 23S rRNA, and GyrA were greater than 95%, and that of PBP1 was greater than 82%. Conclusion: Gastric mucosal gene chip technology can be used for rapid diagnosis and drug resistance detection of HP infection in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding is a rare and potentially life‐threatening condition in children. Herein, clinical features and risk factors in children with upper gastrointestinal bleeding were analyzed, and a clinical scoring system was constructed to assess severity. Methods: This retrospective cohort study involved 224 children hospitalized with upper gastrointestinal bleeding between January 2012 and April 2018. Demographic data, clinical information, and laboratory test results on admission were statistically examined. Results: Out of 224 upper gastrointestinal bleeding cases, 76 were diagnosed as severe and 148 as mild cases according to the rate of blood loss and severity. Severe group was significantly different from mild group in 23 items including age, number of patients aged more than 7 years, and so forth (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Positive detection rate of bleeding etiology was gradually decreased (P < 0.01) in relation to delay in timing of endoscopy. Analysis of logistic regression evinced five independent risk factors for severe cases to be associated with poor consciousness, hemoglobin < 80 g/L, hemoglobin drop of > 20 g/L, hematochezia, and anemic appearance (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Using these five parameters, a number of scoring models were tested. The most predictive resulted in a scoring system constructed with a total of 16 and a cutoff for intervention of 8. Conclusions: Amalgamation of risk factors with the scoring system plays an important role in assessing upper gastrointestinal bleeding severity in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]