PREVENTION OF DUODENAL-ULCER RELAPSE WITH AMOXICILLIN AND OMEPRAZOLE

Objective: To evaluate, prospectively, whether omeprazole and amoxycil lin eradicate Helicobacter pylori and prevent duodenal ulcer relapse. Patients and methods: This prospective multicentre trial included 53 p atients. Twenty-nine H. pylori-positive patients were treated with ome prazole for 4 weeks (group A) and the remaining 24 received amoxycilli n 'plus' omeprazole for 2 weeks. Eradication of H. pylori was evaluate d using the rapid urease test and histological examination. Results: S ix months after the end of therapy, H. pylori was eradicated in two ou t of 23 patients (9%) from group A and 10 out of 21 (48%) from group B . The ulcer relapse rate was 68% (n = 15) for patients from group A an d 17% (n = 3) for those from group B. Conclusions: Our regimen eradica ted H. pylori in half of our patients and is effective in preventing u lcer relapse with few adverse events.