title: Rapid diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection in gastric imprint smears.
abstract: The objective of this study was to determine the sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV), and negative predictive values (NPV) of Diff-Quik-stained gastric imprint cytology smears in the detection of H. pylori compared with histology. Air-dried imprint smears of gastric biopsies from 150 patients were stained by the Diff-Quik method in the endoscopy suite and examined for H. pylori, providing results within minutes. The presence of inflammation and intestinal metaplasia were documented. The same biopsy was processed and stained with H&E and Warthin-Starry stains, and reviewed by a different pathologist blind to the imprint cytology results. Ninety-four of the 150 patients were male with a mean age of 50 years. Based on histology, the H. pylori prevalence was very low at 8%. The sensitivity and specificity of imprint cytology in the detection of H. pylori were 83.3% and 100%, respectively. The PPV and NPV were 100% and 98.6%, respectively. There were two false negatives and no false positives. A combination of imprint cytology and histology achieved 100% sensitivity. Imprint smears did not provide added value over histology with regards to inflammation and metaplasia. Gastric imprint smears stained with Diff-Quik method is a rapid, cheap, and reliable method for the detection of H. pylori and have their best results when complemented with histology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia. gurjeet@notes.usm.my
authors.forename: Gurjeet
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kaur
authors.forename: Manoharan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Madhavan
authors.forename: Amir Hakim
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Basri
authors.forename: Abdul Hamid Mat
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Sain
authors.forename: Mohd Shaiful Bahrun
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.forename: Mohd Kamal
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Yatiban
authors.forename: Nyi Nyi
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Naing
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001399:Azure Stains; D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D003581:Cytodiagnosis / Q000379:methods*; D016145:Endoscopy, Digestive System; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000473:pathology*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008751:Methylene Blue; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011706:Pyloric Antrum / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D014966:Xanthenes
chemical_list: D001399:Azure Stains; C067461:Diff Quik; D014966:Xanthenes; D008751:Methylene Blue