Culture of Helicobacter pylori from a Gastric String May Be an Alternative to Endoscopic Biopsy

Helicobacter pylori was isolated from a swallowed string from 32 of 33 adult subjects (97%) with selective culture media. With this method, antibiotic susceptibility testing and molecular epidemiology studies of H. pylori can be carried out without the need for the collection of specimens by endoscopic biopsy.