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Summary Background : Helicobacter pylori infection may lead to peptic ulcer disease, and causes significant morbidity in patients with cirrhosis. The measurement of H. pylori antigens in human stools has been proposed as a valuable, non‐invasive, diagnostic tool. A number of tests have recently been commercialized. However, very few data are available on their reliability in patients with cirrhosis. Aim : To evaluate the usefulness of three new tests — HpSA (Meridian Diagnostics Inc., Cincinnati, OH, USA), Simple H. pyl (OPERON S.A., Zaragoza, Spain) and FemtoLab H. pylori (Connex, Martinsried, Germany) — in the diagnosis of H. pylori infection in cirrhotic patients. Methods : H. pylori infection was determined in 79 cirrhotic patients (48 men, 31 women; age range, 29–82 years; mean, 62 ± 11 years) by concordance of histology and urea breath test. The sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values of each stool test were calculated. Results : According to the reference method, the sensitivities of HpSA, Simple H. pyl and FemtoLab H. pylori immunoassays were 76%, 87% and 78%, respectively, and their specificities were 93%, 62% and 79%, respectively. Conclusions : Faecal tests are non‐invasive and easy‐to‐perform tools for the diagnosis of H. pylori infection. However, their sensitivity and specificity seem to be non‐optimal in patients with cirrhosis.

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