Abstract:
Two hundred samples of gastric mucosal biopsy from 100 patients with dyspeptic symptoms were analysed. Detection of Helicobacter pylori by histological section stained with modified Giemsa was compared to the gold standard microbiological culture. Two pieces of biopsy, one for histology and one for culture, were taken side by side from the gastric antrum. The results showed that the detection by histology with modified Giemsa stain was 80%, specificity of the test was 88.9%. The positive predictive value, the negative predictive value, the post-test likelihood if test positive and the post-test likelihood if test negative were 89.8%, 78.4%, 89.8% and 21.5%, respectively. In addition, the overall accuracy was 84%, while the prevalence in this study accounted for 55%. From this study, it may conclude that histological section stained with modified Giemsa is a reliable method for routine investigation for Helicobacter pylori. Furthermore, it shows more benefit over the gold standard culture method because of rapidity, simplicity, and inexpensiveness.