Stool Antigen Examination as a Diagnostic Tool for Dyspeptic Patient caused by Helicobacter pylori Infection: A Case-based Literature Review

Abstract

Today, the gold standard for diagnosing H. pylori infection is by Urea Breath Test (UBT). However, UBT tests are not widely available in several remote areas in Indonesia. Stool antigen test (SAT) is an alternative diagnostic test for H. pylori infection. However, it is unclear whether the performance of the SAT to diagnose H. pylori infection can be comparable with UBT accuracy.
 This report was aimed to determine the accuracy of the stool antigen test (SAT) to diagnose H. pylori infection as an alternative to the urea breath test (UBT).
 Our case-based literature review indicates that the SAT has high sensitivity (79%-96.4%). Therefore stool antigen tests can help doctors in ruling out H. pylori infection. SAT also demonstrates remarkable specificity of stool antigen examination (98.6%-100%), suggesting that stool antigen tests can help doctors rule in H. pylori infection.