1. Five micro-curie urea breath test for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection: evaluation in a South-East Asian population.
- Author
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Yu WK, Chow PK, Tan SY, Ng EH, Goh AS, Soo KC, and Aw SE
- Subjects
- Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Asia, Southeastern epidemiology, Breath Tests methods, Double-Blind Method, Female, Helicobacter Infections epidemiology, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Peptic Ulcer microbiology, Predictive Value of Tests, Sensitivity and Specificity, Urea, Helicobacter Infections diagnosis, Helicobacter pylori
- Abstract
Background: Helicobacter pylori is an important pathogen responsible for significant morbidity and mortality. Its prevalence varies widely in different geographical locations and is especially high in parts of Asia., Methods: A double-blind study was carried out to evaluate the use of the 5 microCi (185 KBq) [14C]-urea breath test ([14C]-UBT) in a South-East Asian population by validating its diagnostic accuracy against histology and the CLO test., Results: The sensitivity and specificity of the [14C]-UBT was 100% when compared against the CLO test. When histology was used as the 'gold standard', the sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 97.2%, respectively. There was no overlap or indeterminate values between positive and negative results on the [14C]-UBT., Conclusions: Among South-East Asian populations where the prevalence of H. pylori infection is high, the high sensitivity of the 5 microCi [14C]-UBT makes it a very important test in the detection of H. pylori.
- Published
- 1999
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