title: Quality control study of H2 breath testing for the diagnosis of carbohydrate malabsorption in Italy. The "Tenue Club" Group.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  H2 breath testing is increasingly used in Italy. The aim of this multicenter study was to assess the accuracy of this technique in the diagnosis of carbohydrate malabsorption.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous questionnaire was used to collect information about H2 breath testing methods and to design the quality control study. Fifteen out of 23 laboratories responded to the questionnaire and 12/23 completed the entire study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The survey revealed that a large variety of H2 testing methods are employed in Italy, but none have been previously tested for accuracy. This prospective study showed that these tests fail to identify > 20% of patients with malabsorption. In contrast, a new method based on single H2 breath measurement at 6 hours after lactulose ingestion and a cutoff value of greater than 5 ppm, had a sensitivity of 92% +/- 4% and a specificity of 94% +/- 0.5%. Increasing the cut-off to 10 ppm resulted in a sensitivity of 88% +/- 9% and a specificity of 100%. This improved accuracy was obtained with a much simpler testing procedure in which only one breath sample is analyzed, in contrast to the baseline and multiple subsequent samples that are analyzed using the currently employed techniques.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A great improvement in the accuracy of the H2 breath test, as well as a considerable saving in terms of time and costs, may be possible through the use of a new, simplified H2 breath test followed by careful H2 analysis.
authors.affiliation: Institute of I Medical Pathology, University of Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Strocchi
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Corazza
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anania
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benati
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malservisi
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Cherchi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Certo
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Malorgio
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marano
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mazzeo
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ginaldi
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Giorgetti
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pimpo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sciarretta
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ventrucci
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Quondamcarlo
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pelli
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Perri
mesh_terms: D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D006859:Hydrogen; D007558:Italy; D007787:Lactose Intolerance / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011786:Quality Control; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D006859:Hydrogen