COMPARISON OF LANSOPRAZOLE AND FAMOTIDINE FOR GASTRIC-ULCER BY ENDOSCOPIC ULTRASONOGRAPHY - A PRELIMINARY TRIAL

To compare the efficacy of lansoprazole and famotidine in the treatmen t of gastric ulcer, 24 patients with gastric ulcer were treated for 8 weeks. They were assessed by endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS), which p rovides cross-sectional. images of the gastric wall as well as endosco pic images. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either lansopra zole 30 mg once daily (n = 12), or famotidine 20 mg twice daily (n = 1 2). The healing rate after 4 weeks of treatment was 80% in the lansopr azole group and 40% in the famotidine group. After 8 weeks of treatmen t, the respective healing rates were 100 and 72.7%. Healing to Sakita' s S-2 stage of scarring occurred significantly more often in the lanso prazole group than in the famotidine group after 4 weeks (50% vs. 0%; p < 0.05). After 4 weeks of treatment, the submucosal fibrous tissues detected by EUS were significantly less extensive in the lansoprazole- treated patients with deep ulcers (reaching the muscle layer or serosa ) than in the famotidine-treated patients with deep ulcers (p < 0.01). These results suggest that lansoprazole may be more effective in ulce r healing than famotidine, particularly in patients with deep gastric ulcers.