Support for Helicobacter pylori test needed in ulcer diagnosis:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Antibody-based tests for Helicobacter pylori will need to be backed by endoscopy when diagnosing peptic ulcers in the elderly, says a Taiwanese gastroenterologist. Dr Chung-Jyi Tsai of Chi Mei Foundation Hospital in Yung Kang City gave 182 patients - between 60 and 94 years old - with suspected peptic ulcers an endoscopy and then tested them with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for H pylori. The antibody titres of patients diagnosed with peptic ulcer disease by endoscopy were not significantly different from those with other diagnoses, Dr Tsai reports in Digestive Diseases and Sciences (January).