AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of antral exfoliative cytology method in the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) infection in the stomach. METHODS: Fifty patients were submitted to upper digestive tract endoscopy due to complaints of dyspepsia. The material for exfoliative cytology was obtained by extensive brushing of the gastric antral mucosa and Papanicolaou stain was used to identify the bacteria. The authors also performed gastric biopsies to collect material for urease tests and histologic studies, with hematoxylin-eosin and fucsin stains in order to identify the microorganism. The gold standard used to detect the presence of H pylori was an analysis of the combined results from the gastric biopsies by urease test and histological method. RESULTS: Antral exfoliative cytology method exhibited 90.3% sensitivity, 66.6% specificity, accuracy of 81.6%, positive predictive value of 82.3% and negative predictive value of 80.0%, in this population with a prevalence of 63.3%. CONCLUSION: Antral exfoliative cytology was demonstrated to be a sensitive, accurate and easy to perform method for investigating H pylori infection in the stomach. AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of antral exfoliative cytology method in the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) infection in the stomach. METHODS: Fifty patients were submitted to upper digestive tract endoscopy due to complaints of dyspepsia. The material for exfoliative cytology was by extensive brushing of the gastric antral mucosa and papanicolaou stain was used to identify the microorganism. The authors also performed gastric biopsies to collect material for urease tests and histologic studies, with hematoxylin-eosin and fucsin stains in order to identify the microorganism. The gold standard used to detect the presence of H pylori was an analysis of the combined results from the gastric biopsies by urease test and histological method. RESULTS: Antral exfoliative cytology method exhibited 90.3% sensitivity, 66.6% specificity, accuracy of 81.6%, positive predictive value of 82.3% and negative predictive value of 80.0%, in this population with a prevalence of 63.3%. CONCLU SION: Antral exfoliative cytology was demonstrated to be a sensitive, accurate and easy to perform method for investigating H pylori infection in the stomach.