title: Accuracy of a rapid 10-minute carbon-14 urea breath test for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori-associated peptic ulcer disease.
abstract: Urease in the human gastric mucosa is a marker for infection with Helicobacter pylori (HP), an organism which is associated with peptic ulcer disease. To detect gastric urease, we examined 184 patients (144 males, 40 females; mean age: 49.8 +/- 15.6 years) with suspected peptic ulcer disease. Fasting patients were given orally 5 microCi of carbon-14 labelled urea. From each patient only one breath sample was collected in hyamine at 10 min. The amount of 14C collected at 10 min was expressed as follows: [(DPM/mmol CO2 collected)/(DPM administered)] x 100 x body weight (kg). The presence of HP colonization was determined by examination of multiple endoscopic prepyloric antral biopsy specimens subjected to culture or a rapid urease test. For the purpose of this study, HP-positive patients were defined as those with characteristic bacteria as indicated by a positive result of either the culture or the rapid urease test; HP-negative patients were defined as those with negative findings on both the culture and the rapid urease test. Of the 184 cases, 99 (53.8%) were positive for HP infection, and 85 (46.2%), negative. The sensitivity and specificity of the rapid 10 min 14C-urea breath test for the diagnosis of HP-associated peptic ulcer disease were evaluated by a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve with a variable cut-off value from 1.5 to 4.5. When a cut-off value of 1.5 was selected, the sensitivity was 100% and the specificity, 83.5%; when a cut-off value of 4.5 was selected, the sensitivity was 54.5% and the specificity, 97.6%.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: W Y
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001944:Breath Tests; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000382:microbiology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes