Comparison of five guaiac resin paper tests for demonstrating the presence of blood in faeces.

Four recently available kits of guaiac resin-impregnated paper for demonstrating the presence of blood in faeces were compared with Hemoccult II in in vitro testing. Hemo-FEC most closely resembled Hemoccult II in its sensitivity with freshly prepared kits and kits prepared one week earlier with or without rehydration before testing. Gamma Fe-Cult and Fecatest were more sensitive than Hemoccult II whereas Camco-Pac Guaiac was much less sensitive. Rehydration of kits prepared several days beforehand appears to be useful in restoring sensitivity lost by all the kits tested.