CLINICAL RESEARCH
Stool antigen detection versus 13C-urea breath test for non-invasive diagnosis of pediatric Helicobacter pylori infection in a limited resource setting
 
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Submission date: 2015-08-13
 
 
Final revision date: 2015-10-13
 
 
Acceptance date: 2015-10-28
 
 
Online publication date: 2016-07-01
 
 
Publication date: 2017-12-20
 
 
Arch Med Sci 2018;14(1):69-73
 
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ABSTRACT
Introduction: The prevalence of childhood infection with Helicobacter pylori is high, especially in developing countries. Non-invasive methods for detection of infection in children should be inexpensive, easy to perform, well tolerated and have a high diagnostic accuracy. We aimed to compare the reliability, specificity and sensitivity of the H. pylori stool antigen (HpSA) test with the 13C-urea breath test (13C-UBT) for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection in a limited resource setting.
Material and methods: The stool samples of 60 symptomatic and dyspeptic children with a mean age of 7.2 ±3.7 years (2–15 years) were evaluated using the rapid One step HpSA test by lateral flow immunoassay. The 13C-UBT was used as the gold standard method for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection.
Results: The HpSA test detected H. pylori antigen in 34 out of 38 positive patients with 4 false-negatives (sensitivity 89.5%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 75.2–97.1%), while 21 patients had true-negative results and one false-positive (specificity 95.5%, 95% CI: 77.2–99.9%), with a strong measure of agreement between the HpSA test and the 13C-UBT ( = 0.83, 95% CI: 68–97%, p < 0.001). It had a positive predictive value of 97.1% (95% CI: 85.1–99.9%), a negative predictive value of 84% (95% CI: 63.9–95.5%) and an accuracy of 91.7%.
Conclusions: The rapid lateral flow HpSA test is a reliable method for the primary diagnosis of H. pylori infections in children, though not as accurate as the 13C-UBT. It is more affordable, simpler to perform and more tolerable, representing a viable alternative, especially in developing countries.
eISSN:1896-9151
ISSN:1734-1922
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