Capsule 13C-urea breath test for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the accuracy of capsule 13C-urea breath test (UBT) with conventional invasive methods for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection.


METHODS
One hundred patients received CLO test, histological examination, culture and 100- or 50-mg capsule UBT for the diagnosis of H pylori infection. H pylori infection was defined as those with positive culture or positive results from both histology and CLO test.


RESULTS
Both the sensitivity and specificity of the 100-mg capsule UBT (n = 50) were 100%. The sensitivity and specificity of the 50-mg capsule UBT (n = 50) were 96.4 and 100%, respectively. Taken together, the accuracy of capsule UBT (n = 100) was higher than that of CLO test, histology and culture (100% vs 92%, 91% and 89%, respectively; P = 0.035, 0.018 and 0.005, respectively). Our data showed that the optimal timing of sampling for 100- and 50-mg capsule UBT was 15-30 and 6-15 min, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Capsule UBT has a higher accuracy compared with biopsy-based tests. It is an ideal method for the diagnosis of H pylori infection.
Peng
Nan-Jing
NJ
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China.
Lai
Kwok-Hung
KH
Liu
Ren-Shyan
RS
Lee
Shui-Cheng
SC
Tsay
Daw-Guey
DG
Lo
Ching-Chu
CC
Tseng
Huei-Hwa
HH
Huang
Wen-Keui
WK
Lo
Gin-Ho
GH
Hsu
Ping-I
PI
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods*; D002214:Capsules; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014508:Urea / Q000378:metabolism*
D002214:Capsules; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D014508:Urea