Rapid Urease Test vs Histopathological Examination: A Prospective Study to Compare the Accuracy of Both Tests in the Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori

Background: Helicobacter pylori is a gram-negative bacterium that causes chronic gastritis and plays important role in peptic ulcer disease, gastric carcinoma, and gastric lymphoma. The main aim and objective of the study were to study the incidence of H. pylori. To find the efficacy of rapid urease test (RUT) and histopathological examination of gastric biopsy in diagnosing H. pylori organism.

Methods: This study was conducted at saveetha medical college and hospitals for 6 months. A comparative study between rapid urease test and histopathological examination to diagnose H. pylori infection. Some 100 patient with gastritis was taken for this study.

Result: A total No of patients 100 (100%) were taken for this study in which 64 patients were detected positive for H. pylori by RUT method and 63 patients were detected positive for H. pylori by HPE method.The total no of cases positive for both RUT and HPE is 60.An association between RUT and HPE finding in the study group with the sensitivity being 95.24%, specificity being 89.19%, positive predictive value 93.75%, negative predictive valve 91.67% and accuracy 93.00%.

Conclusion: Our study shows when comparing rapid urease test and histopathological examination. RUT and HPE show the same level of accuracy in the diagnosis of H. pylori infection. Since the rapid urease test is a rapid technique to perform so it is a good alternative for histological examination in a resource-poor environment.