Helicobacter pylori stool antigen test

In Japan, Helicobacter pylori stool antigen(HpSA) test was opened for diagnosis of H. pylori infection before and after eradication therapy form Nov. 1, 2003. We can use two kinds of HpSA kits, Premier Platinum HpSA(Meridian Bioscience, USA) and Testmate pylori antigen EIA(Wakamoto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Japan). We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of the HpSA test(Premier Platinum HpSA) compared with diagnosis based on endoscopic biopsy-based methods. In 136 patients, the sensitivity and specificity of the HpSA test before therapy were 98.3% and 95.0%, respectively. In 54 patients, the sensitivity and specificity of the HpSA test after eradication therapy were 90% and 97.7%, respectively. Therefore, it is concluded that the HpSA test is a useful method for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection before and after eradication therapy.