Comparison of Infrared Spectrometer and Mass Spectrometry for C-Urea Breath Test in the Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori Infection

Received 1/16/2004; revised 2/27/2004; accepted 3/5/2004. For correspondence and reprints contact: Ping-I Hsu, M.D., Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, 386 Ta-Chung 1st Road, Kaohsiung 813, Taiwan, ROC. Tel: (886)73422121 ext. 2075, Fax: (886)7-3461179, E-mail: [email protected] Background: Infrared spectrometer has been developed recently as an alternative tool of mass spectrometry for quantitative gas analysis in C-urea breath test (UBT). This investigation is to compare the diagnostic efficacy of infrared spectrometer with mass spectrometry for UBT in the evaluation of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. Methods: Sixty-three patients with 114 breath tests were included. Fifty-one patients received both endoscopic UBT and conventional UBT, the others received conventional UBT only. On endoscopic UBT, C-urea was injected into the stomach through the working channel of endoscope at the end of endoscopic examination, and breath samples were collected 2 min after consumption of C-urea. On conventional UBT, breath samples were collected before and 15 min after consumption of C-urea. All samples were analyzed with both infrared spectrometer and mass spectrometry. Results: There was a high agreement of H. pylori-positive and H. pylori-negative on endoscopic UBT (100%) and conventional UBT (95.2%) between infrared spectrometer and mass spectrometry. The quantitative analysis of UBT between infrared spectrometer and mass spectrometry is highly correlated (r = 0.968 on endoscopic UBT, r = 0.974 on conventional UBT). Conclusion: Infrared spectrometer is as effective as mass spectrometry for UBT in the diagnosis and quantitative analysis of H. pylori infection.