title: A 15-minute [13C]-urea breath test for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection in patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD) accounts for the majority of dyspeptic patients and studies on the epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori infection in NUD depend on a non-invasive and rapid diagnostic test. This study was performed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of a 15-min simplified protocol of the [13C]-urea breath test ([13C]-UBT) for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection in patients with NUD.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and thirty-six patients with a clinical and endoscopic diagnosis of NUD were included. The [13C]-UBT was modified from the European standard protocol. The baseline breath sample was collected 5 min after the patient took a test meal and the 13CO2 was collected 15 min after the patient drank 100 mg [13C]-urea. The gold standard used for comparison was either a positive culture or positive histology + positive rapid urease test sampled on upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of H. pylori infection in NUD by the gold standard was 59.6%, whereas that calculated by the [13C]-UBT was 60.3%. The sensitivity and specificity of [13C]-UBT was 93.8 and 89.1% compared with the gold standard. The shortened collection time and simplification of the procedure may have led to a decline in specificity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The 15-min [13C]-UBT is a rapid but less specific protocol for detecting the presence of H. pylori infection in patients with NUD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Veterans General Hospital-Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: P I
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.forename: W K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Tsay
authors.forename: L P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Ger
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods*; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004415:Dyspepsia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D016145:Endoscopy, Digestive System; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014508:Urea / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D014508:Urea