Comparison of the Quantitative Values of C-14 and C-13 UBT to Reflect the Presence and Degree of Ongoing Helicobacter pylori Infection.
- Author:
Seok Tae LIM
1
;
Dong Wook KIM
;
Hwan Jeong JEONG
;
Myung Hee SOHN
Author Information
1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Institute for Medical Sciences, and Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea. stlim@chonbuk.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
urea breath test;
C-14;
C-13;
Helicobacter pylori
- MeSH:
Azure Stains;
Biopsy;
Breath Tests;
Dyspepsia;
Eating;
Helicobacter;
Helicobacter pylori;
Humans;
Organothiophosphorus Compounds;
Prevalence;
Scintillation Counting;
Sensitivity and Specificity;
Urea;
Urease
- From:Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
2008;42(3):229-234
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: A urea breath test (UBT) using C-14 or C-13 has been developed for identifying Helicobacter (H) pylori infection on the basis of urease production with release of labeled CO2. We investigated if the C-14 and C-13 UBT have the difference to reflect the presence and degree of H. pylori infection detected by gastroduodenoscopic biopsies (GBx) in the same patients. Materials and METHODS: Thirty eight patients (M:F=28:10, age 53.4+/-13.0 yrs) with upper gastrointestinal symptoms such as indigestion, gastric fullness or pain consecutively underwent C-14 UBT, GBx and C-13 UBT within one week before medications. For the C-14 UBT, a single breath sample was collected at 10 minutes after ingestion of C-14 urea (37 KBq) capsule and counting was done in a liquid scintillation counter for 1 minute, and the results were classified as positive (> or =200 dpm), intermediate (50~199 dpm) or negative (<50 dpm). For the C-13 UBT, the results were classified as positive (> or =2.5 permill) or negative (<2.5 permill). The results of GBx with Giemsa stain were graded 0 (normal) to 4 (diffuse) according to the distribution of H. pylori by the Wyatt method. We compared C-14 UBT and C-13 UBT results with GBx grade as a gold standard. RESULTS: The prevalence of H. pylori infection by GBx with Giemsa stain was 25/38 (65.8%). In the assessment of the presence of H. pylori infection, the C-14 UBT global performance yielded sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy of 92.0%, 92.3%, 95.8%, 91.7% and 92.1%, respectively. However, the C-13 UBT had sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy of 96.0%, 84.6%, 92.3%, 91.7% and 92.1%, respectively. The more significant correlation in C-14 than C-13 UBT (r=0.948 vs r=0.819, p<0.001) was found between the value of UBT and the grade of distribution of H. pylori infection. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the diagnostic performance between C-14 and C-13 UBT to detect H. pylori infection is not significantly different, but the value of C-14 UBT more significantly reflects the degree of bacterial distribution.
