Is antimicrobial susceptibility testing necessary before second-line treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection?
Author(s): Miwa H, Nagahara A, Kurosawa A, Ohkusa T, Ohkura R, Hojo M, Enomoto N, Sato N Affiliation(s): Department of Gastroenterology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. Publication date & source: 2003-06-15, Aliment Pharmacol Ther., 17(12):1545-51. Publication type: Clinical Trial; Randomized Controlled Trial BACKGROUND: An antimicrobial susceptibility test for Helicobacter pylori before second-line treatment is often performed, although whether the test is truly necessary remains unknown. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eighty-two patients with H. pylori infection for whom first-line treatment with a 1-week proton pump inhibitor/amoxicillin-clarithromycin (AC) regimen had failed were randomly assigned to two groups: those having or not having the susceptibility test before re-treatment. The cure rates for these two groups were compared. RESULTS: Five of the 82 patients were excluded from the analysis. For 38 patients in the susceptibility-test group, we used what we consid
