Analysis of the breath hydrogen test for carbohydrate malabsorption: Validation of a pocket-sized breath test analyser

Objective: To assess the validity and clinical application of a hand-held b reath hydrogen (H-2) analyzer (BreatH2, Europa Scientific, Crewe, UK). Methodology: Breath samples of patients referred to the Gastroenterology Un it, Women's and Children's Hospital, North Adelaide, South Australia, for c onfirmation of the diagnosis of carbohydrate malabsorption were analysed wi th the Quintron microlyzer (Quintron Instrument Co., Milwaukee, USA) and th e BreatH2 analyser, using the Quintron microlyzer as the gold standard. Results: Twenty-nine breath Hz tests (BHT) were performed in 29 patients ag ed 2 months to 61 years. The sensitivity and specificity of the BreatH2 ana lyser in detecting a positive BHT using the Quintron microlyser as the gold standard were 0.90 and 0.95 with positive and negative predictive values o f 0.90 and 0.95, respectively. There was one false positive and one false n egative reading. Bland-Altman plots showed a high degree of agreement betwe en the values obtained with two different methods. Conclusions: The diagnosis of carbohydrate malabsorption, using a portable breath H2 analyser (BreatH2), achieved an acceptable degree of sensitivity and specificity, enabling it to be used where no alternative is available.