Comparison of Different Laboratory Methods for Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori

The aim of the present study was to compare four laboratory methods for diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori. 101 sets of four antral biopsies were collected from 101 patients, one of the biopsies in each set were tested by rapid urease test, other three biopsies were used for culture, direct staining and histopathology, respectively. By culture method in 62 cases (61.3), Helicobacterpylori were isolated. Among several primary media that tested in this study, Brucella agar supplemented with 10 whole sheep blood supported relatively good growth of H. pylori. In present study 65 cases (64.3) were positive by rapid urease test. Of 101 biopsy specimens in 68 cases (67.3) were obtained positive result by histopathology method (Gimsa Staining). Sensitivity and specificity of direct staining test were 89.7 and 96.9, respectively. We found histopathology method was the best method for diagnosis of H. pylori and it can be selected as gold standard in detection of Helicobacter pylori. © 2006 Asian Network for Scientific Information.