[Evaluation of the ELISA method for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori]

Antibodies to H.pylori were investigated in the serum of 50 patients with dyspepsia and 25 healthy controls with ELISA method. The antibody positivity was found in all of the 40 cases (100%) for whom H.pylori was demonstrated in at least two tests of rapid urease, Gram stain, culture and silver staining and in eight of the ten cases (80%) whom H.pylori tests were all negative. Twenty-two of the 25 healthy controls (88%) had also antibodies to H.pylori. The sensitivity of the test was found high (100%), but the specificity was found too low (20%).