Clinical validation of Endofaster® for a rapid diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection.

Background: this study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the Endofaster (R) for the detection of Helicobacter pylori. Methods: during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, gastric juice was aspirated to perform an analysis using the Endofaster (R). This test was considered as positive when the ammonium concentration was > 67 ppm, negative when < 57 ppm and weakly positive between 57 and 67. Biopsy specimens were also taken as the gold standard. Results: among the 86 patients enrolled in the study, the Endofaster (R) result was positive in 23.7%, negative in 54.7% and weakly positive in 11.6%, whereas infection was detected via histology in 38.4% of patients. The accuracy was 81.4%, with a Kappa value of 0.57. Conclusions: the Endofaster (R) could be useful to perform a rapid diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection (area under the curve = 0.81).