Accurate diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori. 14C-urea breath test.

The 14C-urea breath test is an accurate means of identifying the presence of H. pylori infection before and after antimicrobial therapy. Several issues, including out of office analysis, the need for a support structure to perform the test, concerns regarding radiation exposure, and inconsistent reimbursement, have slowed the widespread acceptance of the 14C-urea breath test in clinical practice. Despite these problems, the 14C-urea breath test is simple, rapid, and relatively inexpensive compared with the currently available version of the 13C-urea breath test. As such, the 14C-urea breath test provides an attractive, nonendoscopic means of identifying active H. pylori infection.