Peptic ulcer therapy with lansoprazole and Helicobacter pylori eradication

This study investigated the relationship between the clearance of Helicobacter pylori and the healing rate of ulcers after treatment with lansoprazole. Lansoprazole 30 mg/day was administered to 124 gastric ulcer (GU) patients and 57 duodenal ulcer (DU) patients. The healing rates were 89.6% in GU and 96.5% in DU. The rate of shift to the S2 stage of healing was 33.1% in GU and 38.6% in DU. The H. pylori-positive rate was 69.7% in GU and 74.5% in DU. H. pylori clearance rates after lansoprazole treatment were 43.4% in GU and 51.2% in DU. In GU, the ulcer healing rate in the H. pylori-positive to -negative group was significantly higher than that in the group that remained H. pylori-positive, but there were no significant differences in the rate of shift to the S2 stage of ulcer healing. In DU, there were no significant differences in either the healing rates or the rates of shift to the S2 stage of ulcer healing. This suggests that the clearance of H. pylori results in a high healing rate in GU.