Usefulness and influence of age of a novel Rapid HpStAR™ stool antigen for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection in children

A novel rapid monoclonal enzyme immunoassay stool antigen for Helicobacter pylori detection (Rapid HpStAR™) was evaluated in 16 infected and 92 noninfected children. The overall sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 87.5%, 97.8%, 87.5%, and 97.8%, respectively, with an accuracy of 96.2%. The negative predictive value was good in all age groups, reaching 100% in younger children.