The C-13-urea breath test for non-invasive diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection: which procedure and which measuring equipment?

The C-13-urea breath test is one of the most accurate noninvasive tests for diagnosing Helicobacter pylori infection. This method has become increasin gly popular in the last decade since it employs an innocuous, non-radioacti ve isotope that can be safely used in both children and adults. The test ha s been recently simplified by reducing the dose of C-13-urea used, by adopt ing shorter sampling times and by using new and cheaper measuring methods f or C-13 analysis in the breath samples. These include nondispersive isotope -selective infrared spectroscopy (NDIRS) and laser-assisted ratio analysis (LARA), which greatly differ from each other in their technical characteris tics and cost Both NDIRS and LARA are valid alternatives to conventional is otope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS), although LARA appears to be more suit able for large laboratories or gastroenterological centres, which need to p rocess many breath samples per day, whereas NDIRS seems to be more suitable for small laboratories or doctors' offices. (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.