Famotidine in the management of acid-reflux oesophagitis: a multicentre study

The management of gastro-oesophageal reflux still presents a considerable problem mostly because of its multifactorial pathogenesis. In this study, we tested the response to treatment with famotidine for 8 weeks in patients with reflux oesophagitis, taking into consideration, however, only cases with pathological gastro-oesophageal reflux of the acidic type. All the patients participating in the multicentre study underwent gastro-oesophageal 24-hr pH-metry. The results show a good response to the H2 antagonist treatment with regards to both symptomatology (improvement/healing in 98% of cases, asymptomatic in 68%) and the endoscopic and histological picture. In fact, endoscopy showed complete remission of the lesions in 60% of cases and an improvement in 21%. The histological picture of oesophagitis improved in 64% of cases, 36% of which were completely healed, with no modifications in the remaining 36%. These data, which are globally better than those reported in the literature, can probably be attributed to the original selection of patients treated by means of prolonged gastro-oesophageal pH-metry, who had exclusively pathological gastro-oesophageal reflux of the acidic type. For these patients the use of the H2 antagonist drug is more appropriate even as monotherapy, than it is for those patients who have combined or isolated alkaline gastrooesophageal reflux.