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Background Rapid Urease Test (RUT) is a simple, cheap and relatively fast method for diagnosing Helicobacter pylori infection. It is therefore the preferred method used for patients undergoing gastroscopy. Most kits require 24 h to give results. The new Ultra-Rapid Urease Test (URUT) kit by Biohit® requires less than 1 h. Objective To determine URUT's diagnostic accuracy. Method Prospective, blind, multi-centre study involving dyspeptic patients. One corpus biopsy and three antral biopsies were obtained during gastroscopy for standard histological analysis, RUT and URUT. The URUT result was checked after 1 min, 5 min, 30 min and 60 min and the RUT was checked over the course of 24 h. Histology was used as the gold standard test. Results 144 patients were included, 68% female, with a mean age of 49 years old; 50% were H. pylori positive. RUT and URUT diagnoses were correct in 85.9% and 90% of the cases, respectively. The mean waiting time for a positive RUT result was 6 h. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for RUT were, respectively, 82%, 90%, 89% and 84%. The URUT's results were similar (85%, 94%, 94% and 87%). These figures improved when patients taking PPIs were excluded (RUT: 86%, 91%, 93% and 83%; URUT: 91%, 94%, 96% and 89%). No statistically significant differences were found when comparing RUT and URUT distributions of correct diagnoses (McNemar's Test, p = 0.3) but there was a tendency towards better results with the URUT. Conclusion The URUT is equivalent to (or slightly better than) the traditional RUT in diagnosing H. pylori infection, and provides results in less than an hour.

Liver abscesses are a relatively infrequent complication of inflammatory bowel disease. These abscesses are usually multiple and of polymicrobial origin. The development of primary sclerosing cholangitis in inflammatory bowel disease, although provoking alterations in biliary morphology and a higher incidence of infections, does not predispose patients to the development of liver abscesses. We describe a new case of primary sclerosing cholangitis and Crohn's disease with multiple fungal liver abscesses caused by Candida albicans. The patient had developed a duodenal-biliary fistula. Antibiotic therapy produced clinical response and surgery was performed to repair the fistula.

Although acute cholecystitis in the context of acute hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection is extremely rare, previous cases have been reported. However, this manifestation of HAV infection is little known. In the present article, we briefly review previously documented cases and present a new case. We report the case of a 39-year-old woman with fever, abdominal pain and moderately elevated transaminase levels who developed jaundice and peritoneal irritation. Diagnosis of acute cholecystitis was given by abdominal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. The patient underwent surgery. In the postoperative period, positive IgM antibody titers for HAV were obtained, confirming the diagnosis of HAV infection.