Diagnosis of <I>Helicobacter pylori</I> Infection in the Secondary and Tertiary Hospitals

대한Helicobacter 연구학회지 2001;1(1):50-55.
Published online December 30, 2001.

Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori Infection in the Secondary and Tertiary Hospitals

2, 3차 의료기관에서의 Helicobacter pylori 감염의 진단법

김용범

한림의대 강동성심병원 내과

Abstract

The recognition that Helicobacter pylori plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of several gastroduodenal diseases has undoubtedly contributed to the growing demand for H. pylori diagnosis. Two categories of diagnostic methods are now available; the invasive tests which allow the detection of the micro-organism or its secretory materials from biopsy samples of the gastric mucosa obtained at endoscopy, and the so-called non-invasive tests which obviate the need for endoscopy. The invasive tests include histology, rapid urease test, culture and molecular studies by PCR, and the non-invasive methods include ¹³C-urea breath test, serology and stool antigen test and so on. Actually, although there is no definite consensus in selecting a tool suitable for H. pylori diagnosis according to the size of hospital, several criteria such as sensitivity, specificity, convenience, rapidity, ability to quantitate, reproducibility, cost, ability to check virulence of H. pylori, and analyse the results including molecular works retrospectively can be used as guidelines for differentiating primary from secondary and tertiary hospital. Low cost, rapid result, high reproducibility, sensitivity and specificity are essential for primary hospitals, however the virulence check and ability to diagnose and analyse the causes for treatment failure should be available for tertiary hospitals. (Korean J Helicobacter Res Prac 2001;1:50-55)

Key Words: Diagnosis, Helicobacter pylori, Invasive, Non-invasive