Related Experiment Videos
Comparison of five detection methods for Helicobacter pylori
O Sentürk1, Z Cantürk, C Erçin
1Gastroenterology Section, Department of Internal Medicine, and Departments of General Surgery and Pathology, Kocaeli University Medical School, Kocaeli, Turkey.
Objective:
To evaluate which diagnostic test is preferable for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori in patients with gastroduodenal disease.
Study Design:
H pylori infection was diagnosed prospectively in 101 patients. Diagnosis of H pylori was made by tests based on five different principles: (1) culture, (2) direct histologic demonstration, (3) imprint cytology, (4) brushing cytology, and (5) gram staining of H pylori. Efficacy of each test was compared.
Results:
All the tests were reliable for diagnosing H pylori infection; 73.3% of patients showed concordance in at least two tests. All the tests were positive in > 50% of patients. Significant concordance between brushing and imprint cytology was also determined. These two tests have almost similar specificity when compared to other tests.
Conclusion:
When patients undergo upper endoscopy, we recommend taking biopsy specimens for culture and histology. H pylori can be assessed equally well with all the tests, but imprint and brushing cytology have the advantage of rapid response, specificity, much lower cost and reproducibility.