Diagnosis of Helicobacter Pylori infection: a study in the Western Province of Saudi Arabia

Objective : To correlate endoscopic findings with detection rate of Helicobacterpylori by culture, urease activity, serological test and histopathological examination. Setting : King Khalid National Guard Hospital, Jeddah. Subjects : One-hundred and eight patients with gastrointestinal symptoms. Results : Helicobacter pylori was identified in between 60% (culture) and 87% (histology) of all patients referred for endoscopy ; 94% of all culture positive samples were positive on examination by rapid urease (CLO) test and 82% were positive on serology. Serological tests were positive in 79% of all histologically positive cases. Conclusion : There was good correlation between histology and culture results. However, both tests require endoscopy while serological tests do not. Serology alone is not as reliable as culture and histology should be used to supplement other procedures.