Comparison of Serological Tests and Rapid Whole Blood Tests for Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori Infection in Korea

Ryu, Kwang Hyun; Kim, Jae Jun; Shim, Sang Goon; Choi, Moon Seok; Kim, Chang Seop; Kim, Young Ho; Son, Hee Jung; Lee, Kyu Teak; Lee, Jong Kyun; Lee, Joon Hyoek; Rhee, Poong Lyul; Chu, Kwang; Paik, Seung Woon; Lee, Jong Chul; Choi, Kyoo Wan; Cho, Eun Youn; Oh, Young Yoon; Heo, Jin Seok

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: In Western countries, serological tests for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection showed high sensitivity and specificity (more than 90% accuracy). This study was carried out to compare the accuracy of two rapid whole blood (WB) tests and three serological tests for detection of H. pylori in Korea.
METHODS
Fifty-two patients with functional dyspepsia underwent endoscopic evaluation for detection of H. pylori. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, and accuracy of the five diagnostic tests were assessed on the basis of gold standard: The gold standard positives were defined as the case with at least one positive result of the two tests (histology and culture).
RESULTS
The prevalence of H. pylori infection was 51.9% (27/52). In most of diagnostic tests performed, the differences in sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were not statistically significant. However, the sensitivity of radim IgG test was significantly higher than that of Abacus WB test (88.5% vs 53.8%, p<0.05). The specificity of Abacus WB test was superior to that of GAP test (92.0% vs 66.7%, p<0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
Five serum and rapid WB diagnostic tests showed the lower diagnostic accuracy in detecting H. pylori infection in Korea (less than 81.9%) than the results reported in Western countries.