Background: Chronic urticaria is one of the most frequent skin diseases. It
s cause, however, remains unsolved in a large number of cases. Recent inves
tigations pointed to a potential role of Helicobacter pylori infection of t
he upper gastrointestinal tract as a possible causative agent in chronic ur
ticaria, Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of a 14
-day eradication therapy on chronic urticaria. Methods: Thirty patients wit
h chronic urticaria and confirmed H. pylori infection were treated with amo
xicillin and omeprazole. Follow-up was conducted over a period of 6 months
concerning eradication of H, pylori and remission of urticaria. Results: On
ly 8 out of 30 patients (26.7%) showed clinical improvement or disappearanc
e of their urticarial symptoms. Conclusion: Though our results do not suppo
rt the preliminary data of previous studies, the role of H, pylori as a pos
sible bacterial focus of chronic urticaria has to be further investigated.