Efficacy of 14 day OBMT therapy as a second-line treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection

BACKGROUND/AIMS: As a second-line treatment for H. pylori eradication in the case of first-line OAC (omeprazole, amoxicillin, clarithromycin) treatment failure, a minimum of one-week OBMT quadruple therapy composed of omeprazole, bismuth, metronidazole, tetracycline has been recommended in European countries and one or two weeks in USA. In Korea, one-week OBMT quadruple therapy is recommended for the case of first-line OAC treatment failure. Because H. pylori eradication rate of one-week OBMT therapy in Korea is about 80%, the eradication rate of one week therapy is not satisfactory. We analyzed the effect of two-week second-line OBMT therapy. METHODS: Between June 2002 and June 2003, 107 patients who were H. pylori positive (44 males and 63 females: mean age 51.8 years) after primary eradication therapy received two-week OBMT therapy. Four weeks after completion of therapy, 13C-urea breath test was performed to detect H. pylori. RESULTS: After two weeks of OBMT therapy, eradication was achieved in 103 of 107 patients (96.3%) and in 68 of 71 peptic ulcer patients (95.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Two-week OBMT therapy should be considered as a retreatment regimen with the eradication rate more than 90%.