Rad. Ghoussoub et Mf. Lachman, A TRIPLE STAIN FOR THE DETECTION OF HELICOBACTER-PYLORI GASTRIC BRUSHING CYTOLOGY, Acta cytologica, 41(4), 1997, pp. 1178-1182
OBJECTIVE: Helicobacter pylori is a surface bacterium associated with
gastritis. The triple stain (TS), combining silver, hematoxylin and eo
sin, and alcian blue at pH 2.5, is valuable in the detection of H pylo
ri in tissue. We evaluated the usefulness of TS as compared with Papan
icolaou stain in detecting H pylori in gastric brushings and biopsy sp
ecimens. STUDY DESIGN: Gastric brushings and biopsy specimens were obt
ained from 21 patients. The Papanicolaou-stained slides were restained
with TS, and the brushings and biopsy specimens were independently ev
aluated by the authors. RESULTS: H pylori was found in 9 of 21 randoml
y selected cases using TS. Of these, two cases were positive on brushi
ngs alone and three on biopsy alone. Only three of the Mine cases were
positive by Papanicolaou stain. None of the 21 samples were positive
with Papanicolaou stain yet negative with TS. Detection of H pylori wa
s restricted to patients with gastric ulcerations but was not limited
by paucity of glands. CONCLUSION: TS is useful for detecting H pylori
in gastric brushings and provides excellent cytologic detail. Furtherm
ore, TS is superior to Papanicolaou stain for H pylori detection and i
s a valuable adjunct to biopsy.