The effects of blood on rapid urease testing forHelicobacter pylori in mucosal biopsies from the gastric antrum

Background While the eradication ofHelicobacter pylori in patients with bleeding peptic ulcer disease (PUD) decreases the rate of ulcer re-bleeding, the sensitivity of the rapid urease test (RUT) forH. pylori diagnosis is lower in this setting. The aim of this study was therefore to determine if exposing a gastric biopsy specimen to blood before its use in the RUT (CLOtest) could account for these findings.