Where c-14 urea breath tests lie in nuclear medicine. The detection of H pylori

Since the early 20th century, ulcers have been believed to be caused by stress and dietary factors. Treatment had focussed on hospitalisation, bed rest, and prescription of special bland foods. Later on, gastric acid was blamed for ulcer disease. Antacids and medication that block acid production became the standard of therapy. Despite this treatment, there seemed to be a high recurrence of ulcers. In 1982 a pair of Australian physicians Robin Warren and Barry Marshall were first to identify a link between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and ulcers, concluding that bacterium, not stress or diet, causes ulcers. However, the medical community was slow to accept their findings. It was not until 1994 that a Health Consensus Development Conference concluded that there was a strong association between H. pylori and ulcer diseases also recommending ulcer patients with H. pylori infection be treated with antibiotics. The paper discusses several tests, which have become available to medical staff in the detection of H. pylori. Sensitivity, specificity, relatively inexpensive ease of use and patient compliance are factors of a good diagnostic test. Copyright (2000) ANZ Nuclear Medicine