Nj. Peng et al., A 15-minute [C-13]-urea breath test for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection in patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia, J GASTR HEP, 15(3), 2000, pp. 284-289
Background: Non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD) accounts for the majority of dyspepti
c 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 simplifi
ed protocol of the [C-13]-urea breath test ([C-13]-UBT) for the diagnosis o
f 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 [C-13]-UBT was modified from the Europ
ean standard protocol. The baseline breath sample was collected 5 min after
the patient took a test meal and the (CO2)-C-13 was collected 15 min after
the patient drank 100 mg [C-13]-urea. The gold standard used for compariso
n was either a positive culture or positive histology + positive rapid urea
se 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 [C-13]-UBT was 60.3%. The sensiti
vity and specificity of [C-13]-UBT was 93.8 and 89.1% compared with the gol
d standard. The shortened collection time and simplification of the procedu
re may have led to a decline in specificity.
Conclusion: The 15-min [C-13]-UBT is a rapid but less specific protocol for
detecting the presence of H. pylori infection in patients with NUD. (C) 20
00 Blackwell Science Asia Pty Ltd.