Is antrum or corpus the best site for culture of Helicobacter pylori?
BACKGROUND
Isolating Helicobacter pylori on culture media and performing antibiotic susceptibility testing is potentially the most useful tool for guiding antibiotic therapy, especially when antimicrobial resistance is suspected. The aim of this study was to determine whether the yield of H. pylori culture was related to the site from which the gastric specimen was obtained either before or after therapy.


METHODS
Gastric mucosal biopsies from the antrum and the corpus of the stomach were cultured. H. pylori status was determined by histological assessment using the Genta stain.


RESULTS
Fifty-two patients with documented H. pylori infection were studied: Twenty-three were tested before antibiotic therapy and 29 after therapy had failed. In 47 patients (90%), both antral and corpus culture specimens were positive. In 5 patients (10%), only one site was positive, with three false-negative antral and two false negative corpus cultures. The overall sensitivity of culture in detecting H. pylori infection was 95% (95% confidence interval = 89-98%) and was not significantly different for the antrum or corpus, either before or after therapy.


CONCLUSIONS
Culture of gastric biopsies from either the antrum or the corpus has an excellent diagnostic yield even in patients who failed antimicrobial therapy.
Yousfi
M M
MM
Department of Medicine, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Reddy
R
R
Osato
M S
MS
Graham
D Y
DY
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D001706:Biopsy; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology*; D005756:Gastritis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D011706:Pyloric Antrum / Q000382:microbiology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D013270:Stomach / Q000382:microbiology*; D017211:Treatment Failure
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents