Evaluation of urea breath test as a diagnostic tool for Helicobacter pylori infection in adult dyspeptic patients

Table 1 Comparative assessment of different techniques for diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori Infection

Criteria	Invasive tests	Non-invasive tests
Technique	Endoscopy	UBT, stool antigen, serology
Sample	Biopsy	UB, stool, serum
Sampling error	++	Variable
Accuracy	The gold standard	Variable
Skill and experience	++	Easily applicable
Time of results	Short	Longer (variable)
Cost	++	+
Contraindications	May not be suitable for all patients	Suitable for most patients
Equipment and infrastructure	+++	++
Availability	Available in specialized settings	Widely available in various healthcare settings
Patient discomfort	++	Minimum
Post-treatment monitoring	+	+++

UB: Urea breath; UBT: Urea breath test.

Table 2 ¹³C-urea breath test & ¹⁴C-urea breath test performance

Test type	14C-UBT		13C-UBT
	Optimal sensitivity	Optimal specificity	Optimal sensitivity	Optimal specificity
Urea dose	99.21% with 5 µCi	93.43% with 5 µCi	98.85% with 25 mg	99.13% with 25 mg
Time of assessment after urea administration	98.39% (15 min)	98.71% (15 min)	98.87% (20 min)	98.14% (20 min)
Assessment technique	-98.79% (liquid scintillation counting); -95.40% (solid scintillation UBT)	-87.24% (liquid scintillation counting); -97.46% (solid scintillation UBT)	98.99% (ICOS)	98.55% (ICOS)
Overall accuracy, %	96.15	89.84	96.60	96.93
Safety	Not permitted		Used several times on the same patient and safe for children and pregnant females

ICOS: Integrated cavity output spectrometry; UBT: Urea breath test.