Diagnostic Approaches to Helicobacter pylori: A Comparative Study of Detection in Gastric Biopsy and Aspirates

Background Helicobacter pylori is one of the most common bacterial pathogens in humans. It is a microaerophilic bacteria with multiple unipolar flagella. It is associated with the development of various lesions like chronic gastritis, gastric ulcers, adenocarcinoma, and mucosa-associated lymphomas. The aim of this study was a comparative evaluation of the rapid urease test (RUT) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in gastric biopsy and aspirates for the detection of H. pylori infection and to further determine the sensitivity and specificity of RUT and PCR. Method Endoscopic guided biopsy tissue and gastric aspirate specimens were collected from 110 patients with symptoms like gastritis, dyspepsia, etc., and subjected to RUT and PCR for detection of H. pylori infection. Results A total of 110 samples, including both biopsy tissue (77) and gastric aspirate (33) were subjected to RUT and PCR. RUT for biopsy tissue showed the highest sensitivity (97.18%), compared to gastric aspirate (78.94%). Comparing RUT with PCR, the sensitivity and specificity of PCR were 93.33% and 90.0%, respectively. The positive predictive value (PPV) of PCR was 97.67%, the negative predictive value (NPV) was 75.0%, and the accuracy was 92.73%. Conclusion The present study showed that RUT is a rapid and accurate invasive test for the detection of Helicobacter pylori infection in biopsy tissue as compared to gastric aspirate specimens, which are more sensitive to PCR. The study also showed that biopsy tissue was found to be a superior specimen for the detection of Helicobacter pylori as compared to gastric aspirate.