Abstract:
Background: Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) is one of the most important causes of dyspepsia and gastric
cancer and diagnosis can be made by invasive or non-invasive methods. The Atlas Helicobacter pylori antigen
test is a new rapid non-invasive method which is simple to conduct. The aim of this study was to determine its
sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy. Materials
and Methods: This prospective study was conducted between July 2012 and December 2013. Stool samples of
59 dyspeptic patients who underwent upper endoscopy were evaluated for H. pylori stool antigen. Results: From
the 59 patients who participated in this study, there were 36 (61%) males and 23 (39%) females. H. pylori was
diagnosed in 24 (40.7%) gastric biopsies, 22 (91.7 %) of these being positive for the Atlas H. pylori antigen test.
The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy were 91.7%, 100%, 100%, 94.6% and 96.6% respectively.
Conclusions: The Atlas H. pylori antigen test is a new non-invasive method which is simple to perform and avails
reliable results in a few minutes. Thus it can be the best option for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection due to its
high sensitivity and specificity.
