1. The necessity and appropriate range of the diagnostic "gray zone" of 13C-urea breath test.
- Author
-
Yin, Zhihao, Xiao, Shiyu, Tian, Xueli, Yuan, Ziying, and Zhou, Liya
- Subjects
HELICOBACTER disease diagnosis ,REVERSE transcriptase polymerase chain reaction ,UREA ,PREDICTIVE tests ,STAINS & staining (Microscopy) ,CONFIDENCE intervals ,HEALTH outcome assessment ,MEDICAL screening ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,BREATH tests ,SENSITIVITY & specificity (Statistics) ,ODDS ratio - Abstract
Background: The
13 C-urea breath test (13 C-UBT) is preferred for non-invasive detection of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori); however, its accuracy drops when results fall between 2‰ and 6‰ (called the gray zone). This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of13 C-UBT (cut-off point 4‰) between 2‰ and 6‰, find a more appropriate gray zone, and identify the factors influencing13 C-UBT. Methods: Patients with13 C-UBT results 2‰–6‰, over an eight-year period, were studied. H. pylori infection was diagnosed if patients were positive for either Warthin–Starry staining or quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR), and excluded if both were negative. Accuracy of13 C-UBT under different cut-off points was calculated, and the factors affecting13 C-UBT were analyzed. Results: A total of 208 patients were included, of whom 129 were H. pylori–positive. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value (NPV), and positive predictive value (PPV) of13 C-UBT were 71.32%, 83.54%, 64.08%, and 87.62%, respectively. When the cut-off point was changed to 2.15‰, the NPV of13 C-UBT reached a maximum (76.47%); when the cut-off point was changed to 4.95‰, PPV reached its maximum (93.22%). Therefore, the original gray zone (2‰–6‰) was adjusted to 2‰–4.95‰. Gastric antral intestinal metaplasia (OR = 3.055, 95% CI: 1.003–9.309) was an independent risk factor for false-negative13 C-UBT. Conclusions: Accuracy of13 C-UBT over 2‰–6‰ was poor, and the gray zone was changed to 2‰–4.95‰.13 C-UBT results over 2‰–4.95‰ should be interpreted with caution during mass screening of H. pylori, especially for patients with gastric antral intestinal metaplasia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF