Helicobacter pylori stool antigen (HpSA) test--a simple, accurate and non-invasive test for detection of Helicobacter pylori infection.
OBJECTIVE
To access the reliability of a newly developed test, the Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) stool antigen (HpSA) test was used for detection of H. pylori infection.


METHODS
Stool specimens were collected from 33 consecutive patients (19 males and 14 females, age range: 16-73 years, mean: 49 years) who received upper gastrointestinal endoscopic examination for gastrointestinal symptoms. The H. pylori status was evaluated based on six different tests: culture, histology, biopsy urease test, 13C-urea breath test (13C-UBT), serology, and HpSA test. A commercial kit using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay examined HpSA in the stool. H. pylori status was defined as positive when the culture was positive or concordance of three of the other four tests (histology, biopsy urease test, 13C-UBT, and serology) was positive.


RESULTS
Twenty patients were diagnosed as H. pylori-positive. The HpSA test was positive in 19 patients and negative in 14 patients. The sensitivity and specificity were 95.0% and 100%, respectively. The overall accuracy rate was 96.3%.


CONCLUSIONS
The HpSA test is a new, simple, non-invasive method for accurate diagnosis of H. pylori infection.
Chang
M C
MC
Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, R.O.C.
Wu
M S
MS
Wang
H H
HH
Wang
H P
HP
Lin
J T
JT
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D001944:Breath Tests; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial