Abstract:Objective To investigate the effect of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection on the lesion site, gastric mucosal manifestations and endoscopic diagnosis of early gastric cancer (EGC) and precancerous lesions.Methods Clinical data of 1 107 patients underwent white light endoscopy (WLE) and Hp detection from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed, then they were divided into HP-negative group (608 cases) and HP-positive group (499 cases). Using pathological findings as the gold standard for the diagnosis of EGC and precancerous lesions, and retrospectively analyzing the effects of Hp infection on the lesion sites, endoscopic manifestations and diagnosis of EGC and precancerous lesions.Results Hp-positive group were detected with EGC and precancerous lesions in 64 patients, and lesions were more common in the gastric sinus (45.31%) and body (26.56%). In the Hp-negative group, 62 cases of EGC and precancerous lesions were detected, with the gastric sinus (37.10%) and cardia (37.10%) being more common. The presence of nodules or bulges, congestion, erosions and ulcers were independent risk factors for Hp-negative EGC and precancerous lesions, while the presence of nodules or bulges, erosions and ulcers were independent risk factors for Hp-positive EGC and precancerous lesions, as observed by WLE. Although ulcers were the strongest risk factor for early gastric cancer and precancerous lesions, the OR^ for the Hp-negative group was 26.86 higher than the 14.43 for the Hp-positive group. Further analysis of the effect of Hp infection on the diagnosis of EGC and precancerous lesions showed that the sensitivity of 78.13% and specificity of 82.99% in the Hp-positive group, which were lower than those of 80.95% and 87.91% in the Hp-negative group. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the diagnosis of EGC and precancerous lesions with different Hp status by WLE were also plotted, and the area under curve (AUC) value of the Hp-negative group was 0.79, which was higher than the 0.74 of the Hp-positive group.Conclusion Hp infection not only changes the site of EGC and precancerous lesions, but also affects the mucosal manifestation of lesions under WLE, thus making the diagnosis of EGC and precancerous lesions more difficult.