Urea Breath Test

The urea breath test is a rapid diagnostic procedure used to identify infections by Helicobacter pylori, a spiral bacterium implicated in gastritis, gastric ulcer, and peptic ulcer disease. Principles and mechanism Patients swallow urea labelled with an uncommon isotope, either radioactive carbon-14 or non-radioactive carbon-13. In the subsequent 10-30 minutes, the detection of isotope-labelled carbon dioxide in exhaled breath indicates that the urea was split; this indicates that urease ( ...