Unsuccessful cimetidine treatment of peptic ulcer: analysis of the factors involved

Healing rates were examined retrospectively in 124 outpatients with peptic ulcer who had received cimetidine for at least four weeks. Treatment was unsuccessful in 73 patients. A statistical analysis of the factors involved in treatment failure revealed that in patients with duodenal ulcers 60.6% of the treatment successes versus 26.8% of the treatment failures were nonsmokers (P less than 0.001). There was a significantly higher (P less than 0.01) incidence of varioliform gastritis among treatment failures (19.2%) than treatment successes (3.9%). The following factors seemed to have no influence on rates of ulcer healing: age, sex, duration of ulcer disease, duration (beyond four weeks) of cimetidine therapy, family history of peptic ulcer, alcohol consumption, and coffee consumption. Although there was a higher gastric:duodenal ulcer ratio as well as higher consumption of anti-inflammatory drugs in treatment failures than in treatment successes, the difference was not statistically significant.