Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection.

A growing interest in non-invasive tests for the detection of Helicobacter pylori has been observed recently, reflecting a large number of studies published this year. New tests have been validated, and the old ones have been used in different clinical situations or for different purposes. Stool antigen tests have been extensively evaluated in pre- and post-treatment settings both in adults and children, and the urea breath test has been studied as a predictor of bacterial load, severity of gastric inflammation, and response to eradication treatment. Several studies have also explored the usefulness of some serologic markers as indicators of the gastric mucosa status. With regard to invasive tests, molecular methods are being used more and more, but the breakthrough this year was the direct in vivo observation of H. pylori during endoscopy.