Research Article 
Bashar Ali Saeed1*
Abstract
To evaluate the effect of test duration on the sensitivity and specificity of positive urease test for the detection of Helicobacter pylori in patient with duodenal ulcer and gastropathy, and to evaluate the difference of the results of rapid urease test in patients with duodenal ulcer compared to patients with gastropathy. 117 patient “75 patient with duodenal ulcer group (A) and 42 patient with gastropathy group (B)” were included in the study, two sets of gastric biopsies “each contain one antral and one corpus biopsy” were obtained from each patient, one set used to obtain urease test which was read at 30 minutes, 2, 10 and 24 hour after biopsy insertion into the reagent, and the other set used for histopathological examination. 68/75 (90%) patients were tested positive for Helicobacter Pylori by histopathological examination in group (A), in comparison to 35/42 (83%) patient in group (B). The sensitivities of the urease test at 30 min, 2, 10 and 24 hours in group (A) were 45%, 62%, 73% and 99% respectively, corresponding figures for the specificity were 92%, 83%, 80% and 80% respectively. While in group (B) the sensitivities were 42%, 59%, 69%, and 95% respectively, and the specificity was 96%, 88%, 83%, and 81% respectively. The optimum duration of incubation of urease test for a good sensitivity was 24 hours; rapid urease test does not correlate to disease severity.
Keywords: Helicobacter Pylori, Urease test, Duodenal ulcer, Gastropathy