Saudi journal of gastroenterology : official journal of the Saudi Gastroenterology Association
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Saudi J Gastroenterol · Mar 2019
Comparative StudyAccuracy of invasive and noninvasive methods of Helicobacter pylori infection diagnosis in Saudi children.
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is one of the most common chronic infections in the world. The prevalence of H. pylori is high in Saudi Arabia, but there are no studies in children on the accuracy of invasive and noninvasive methods to diagnose H. pylori infection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of six methods for diagnosis of H. pylori infection; four invasive [rapid urease test (RUT), histology, antral nodularity (AD), and biopsy culture (BC)] and two noninvasive methods [serologic test and stool antigen test (SAT)]. ⋯ RUT is a valuable diagnostic method for identifying H. pylori with the highest sensitivity compared to AD and SAT. All diagnostic tests showed moderate-to-high specificities but BC and histology showed the highest specificity.