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Tests for H. pylori
If an ulcer is discovered, your doctor will run further tests to see if you've been infected with H. pylori bacteria, a major cause of peptic ulcer. A positive result would indicate that you should be treated with antibiotics.
The most accurate test for H. pylori involves analyzing under the microscope tissues sampled in an endoscopic biopsy of the stomach to detect the bacterium directly.
Other less invasive tests are described below:
A simple blood test can determine whether the bacteria are or were present by detecting antibodies in the blood. Unfortunately, it will indicate only whether you've been exposed, not whether the infection has been cured.
A urea breath test, by contrast, can demonstrate if antibiotic treatment for the bacteria has been successful. This simple, noninvasive test is based on the ability of H. pylori to break down urea, a chemical made of nitrogen and carbon that normally is produced by the body and excreted in the urine.
For the test, patients swallow a solution containing urea made from an isotope of carbon. (Isotopes of carbon occur in minuscule amounts in nature and can be measured with special testing machines.) If H. pylori is present in the stomach, the urea is broken up into nitrogen and carbon (as carbon dioxide). The carbon dioxide is absorbed across the lining of the stomach and into the blood. It then is excreted from the lungs in the breath. Samples of exhaled breath are collected. If the isotope is detected in the breath, it means that H. pylori is present in the stomach. When the H. pylori is effectively treated with antibiotics, the test for the isotope is negative.
The most recent noninvasive test is the stool antigen test, in which a stool sample is analyzed for evidence of the bacterium. This test is also useful for checking whether antibiotic treatment of a H. pylori infection has been successful.
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