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Helicobacter pylori Stool AntigenAka: H. pylori Stool Antigen, HpSA

See Also
1. Helicobacter pylori Noninvasive Testing
Indications
1. Dyspepsia evaluation
2. Confirmation of cure after H. pylori management
Mechanism
1. Measures H. pylori antigen present in stool sample
Efficacy
1. Accurate for Diagnosis for H. pylori
  1. Test Sensitivity: 95-98%
  2. Test Specificity: 92-95%
2. Accurate for confirmation of cure at 7 days
  1. Antigen levels significantly suppressed with cure
  2. Vaira (2002) Ann Intern Med 136:280
Protocol: Patient stops medications 2 weeks before test
1. Stop Proton Pump Inhibitors
2. Stop all antibiotics
3. Stop bismuth compounds (e.g. Pepto Bismol)
Advantages
1. Excellent first line non-invasive test for diagnosis
2. Noninvasive test of H. pylori cure
3. Inexpensive
References
1. Cutler AF (1995) Gastroenterology 109:136

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This page was written by Scott Moses, MD. This page was last revised before 5/10/08, prior to consistent tracking of revision date. This page was last published on 5/10/2008. Please send comments and questions to the editor. Contact information may be found on the page About the Family Practice Notebook. These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0.