Positive criteria for carbon-14 breath test

The carbon 14 breath

test is a noninvasive test for detecting Helicobacter pylori infection, which measures the amount of specific isotopes in the breath exhaled by the subject to determine the presence of infection. Because the test method is affected by the type of reagent, the reference range varies from hospital to laboratory. For example, the normal range should be less than 100DPM for liquid scintillation method and solid scintillation method; the normal value should be less than 50DPM for cassette method. When the test result is greater than the reference range, it means positive, that is, there is Helicobacter pylori infection.