Brief Reports
Copyright ©2005 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 14, 2005; 11(18): 2784-2788
Published online May 14, 2005. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v11.i18.2784
Antral exfoliative cytology for the detection of Helicobacter pylori in the stomach
Claudio A.R. Gomes Jr, Wilson R. Catapani, Ana M.A.A. Mader, Ângelo Locatelli, Claudilene B.P. Silva, Jaques Waisberg
Claudio A.R. Gomes Jr, Wilson R. Catapani, Ana M.A.A. Mader, Ângelo Locatelli, Claudilene B.P. Silva, Jaques Waisberg, Department of Gastroenterology, Surgery and Pathology, ABC Faculty of Medicine, Avenida Príncipe de Gales 821, Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Claudio A.R. Gomes Jr, MSc, Rua Xingu, 175-apt. 51, Santo André, São Paulo, CEP 09060-050, Brazil. rufinogomes@aol.com
Telephone: +55-49925392 Fax: +55-49925392
Received: October 9, 2004
Revised: October 10, 2004
Accepted: November 29, 2004
Published online: May 14, 2005
Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of antral exfoliative cytology method in the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) infection in the stomach.

METHODS: Fifty patients were submitted to upper digestive tract endoscopy due to complaints of dyspepsia. The material for exfoliative cytology was obtained by extensive brushing of the gastric antral mucosa and Papanicolaou stain was used to identify the bacteria. The authors also performed gastric biopsies to collect material for urease tests and histologic studies, with hematoxylin-eosin and fucsin stains in order to identify the microorganism. The gold standard used to detect the presence of H pylori was an analysis of the combined results from the gastric biopsies by urease test and histological method.

RESULTS: Antral exfoliative cytology method exhibited 90.3% sensitivity, 66.6% specificity, accuracy of 81.6%, positive predictive value of 82.3% and negative predictive value of 80.0%, in this population with a prevalence of 63.3%.

CONCLUSION: Antral exfoliative cytology was demonstrated to be a sensitive, accurate and easy to perform method for investigating H pylori infection in the stomach.

Keywords: H pylori; Exfoliative cytology; Stomach