Using data from a Venezuelan cohort of 1,948 adults, the gastric detection of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the vacA gene in 1 antral biopsy was compared to the detection of H. pylori by histopathology (hematoxylin–eosin and Giemsa staining) in 5 biopsies (antrum and corpus). Overall, H. pylori was detected in 85% and 95% of the subjects by PCR and histopathology, respectively. When results were analyzed by severity of precancerous lesions, PCR on 1 biopsy detected the bacteria less