Abstract:
Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of home-made rapid urease test compared with commercial kit for diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection. Material and Method: A cross-sectional study of patients who underwent esophagogastro- duodenoscopy from June 2009 to May 2010 was carried out. Gastric biopsy specimens were taken from antrum and body of the stomach for home-made rapid urease testing, commercial kit (hpfast) urease testing, and histological study. Results: One hundred and ninety nine patients were included in the present study. The sensitivity of home-made rapid urease test and hpfast were 40% and 48.5% at 1 hour and 91.4% and 91.4% at 24 hours. The specificity, positive and negative predictive value and accuracy of home-made rapid urease test vs. hpfast were 100% vs. 100%, 100% vs. 100%, 95.5% vs. 95.5% and 96.9% vs. 96.9% respectively. Furthermore 45.3% of home-made rapid urease test and 54.7% of hpfast showed positive results within 1 hour. Conclusion: Home-made rapid urease test has good sensitivity and specificity comparable to commercial kit for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection.