Antígeno en heces vs histopatología en el diagnóstico de infección de Helicobacter pylori en portadores de síndrome dispéptico, Dirección Hospitalaria Guayaquil, período 2024-2025.

Abstract

Introduction: Helicobacter pylori infection is a common problem in patients with dyspeptic syndrome and is associated with chronic gastritis, peptic ulcers, and gastric neoplasms. Although histopathology obtained by upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is considered the gold standard, the fecal antigen test is a non-invasive and more practical alternative. Methodology: A retrospective, cross-sectional, and analytical observational study was conducted on 170 patients with dyspeptic syndrome treated at the Dirección Hospitalaria Guayaquil during the period 2024–2025. Epidemiological clinical variables, endoscopic findings, and results of fecal antigen and histopathology tests were collected. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, diagnostic accuracy, and area under the ROC curve were calculated. Results: Males predominated (59.4%), and the mean age was 64.9 ± 13.6 years. The prevalence of H. pylori infection according to histopathology was 44.1%. The stool antigen test showed 68 true positives, 95 true negatives, 0 false positives, and 7 false negatives. Sensitivity was 90.67%, specificity 100%, positive predictive value 100%, negative predictive value 93.14%, and diagnostic accuracy 95.9%, with an AUC of 0.953. Conclusion: The stool antigen test demonstrated high diagnostic performance and adequate discriminatory capacity compared to histopathology, making it a useful non-invasive alternative for the detection of H. pylori.