Diagnostic accuracy of a new rapid urease test (Pronto Dry) before and after treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection

Aim. The diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection can be made easily by the rapid urease test during endoscopy. The mainly commercial rapid urease test available in routine practice, is in liquid phase, need to be stored at 4°C and generally they are not ready to use. Recently a new rapid urease test, the Pronto Dry, has been reported to be faster in the final reading, ready to use, and it can be stored at room temperature. Aim of the study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and the reaction time of Pronto Dry vs liquid phase-rapid urease test, before and after treatment of Helicobacter pylori infections. Methods. A total of 315 untreated dyspeptic patients and 323 post-treatment patients, were enrolled in this study. At endoscopy, 5 biopsy samples were obtained from the antrum and from the corpus for histology; culture and rapid urease tests (liquid phase and Dry test). Helicobacter pylori status was defined according to European guidelines. Sensitivity and specificity of both rapid urease test were assessed at 5, 15, 30 minutes, and 3 and 24 hours after the endoscopy. Results. One hundred and eleven out of 315 untreated dyspeptic patients were found to be positive for Helicobacter pylori infection, and 56/323 patients were found still positive after treatment. Sensitivity at 5,15, 30 minutes, and 3 and 24 hours in untreated patients were 45%, 71.2%, 81.1%, 90.1% and 91.9% respectively for the Pronto Dry vs 6.3%, 31.5%, 51.3%, 78.4% and 90.1% for liquid phase rapid urease test. Sensitivity at the same times in not eradicated patients were 33.9%, 66.1%, 85.7%, 92.8 and 92.8% respectively for the Pronto Dry vs 3.6%, 37.5%, 55.3%, 73.2%, 92.8% for liquid phase rapid urease test. Conclusion. Pronto Dry showed to have higher sensitivity in pre and post treatment setting compared to liquid phase-rapid urease test within 3 hours of incubation time.