Peptic ulcer screening and diagnosis

In order to detect an ulcer, your doctor may have you undergo the following diagnostic tests:

• Upper gastrointestinal (upper GI) X-ray. Your doctor may begin with this test, which outlines your esophagus, stomach and duodenum. During the X-ray, you swallow a white, metallic liquid (containing barium) that coats your digestive tract and makes an ulcer more visible. An upper GI X-ray can detect some ulcers, but not all.
• Endoscopy. This procedure may follow an upper GI X-ray if the X-ray suggests a possible ulcer, or your doctor may perform endoscopy first. In this more sensitive procedure, a long, narrow tube with an attached camera is threaded down your throat and esophagus into your stomach and duodenum. With this instrument, your doctor can view your upper digestive tract and identify an ulcer.

If your doctor detects an ulcer, he or she may remove small tissue samples (biopsy) near the ulcer. These samples are examined under a microscope to rule out cancer. A biopsy can also identify the presence of H. pylori in your stomach lining. Depending on where the ulcer is found, your doctor may recommend a repeat endoscopy after two to three months to confirm that the ulcer is healing.

Additional tests
In addition to a biopsy, these other tests can determine if the cause of your ulcer is H. pylori infection:

• Blood test. This test checks for the presence of H. pylori antibodies. A disadvantage of this test is that it sometimes can't differentiate between past exposure and current infection. After H. pylori bacteria have been eradicated, you may still have a positive result for many months.

• Breath test. This procedure uses a radioactive carbon atom to detect H. pylori. First, you blow into a small plastic bag, which is then sealed. Then, you drink a small glass of clear, tasteless liquid. The liquid contains radioactive carbon as part of a substance (urea) that will be broken down by H. pylori. Thirty minutes later, you blow into a second bag, which also is sealed. If you're infected with H. pylori, your second breath sample will contain the radioactive carbon in the form of carbon dioxide.

  The advantage of the breath test is that it can monitor the effectiveness of treatment used to eradicate H. pylori, detecting when the bacteria have been killed or eradicated. With the blood test, H. pylori antibodies may sometimes still be present a year or more after the infection is gone.

• Stool antigen test. This test checks for H. pylori in stool samples. It's useful both in helping to diagnose H. pylori infection and in monitoring the success of treatment.