Reinfection in Korean Patients with Peptic Ulcer Diseases Following Successful Eradication of Helicobacter

Park, Sill Moo; Song, In Sung; Kim, Jin Ho; Min, Young Il

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Curing an H. pylori infection in peptic ulcer patients significantly reduces the risk of ulcer recurrence. But reinfection with H. pylori causes ulcer recurrence. Since exact data on the rate of H. pylori reinfection are sparse, this study was conducted to determine the rate of reinfection with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) following successful eradication of bacterium in Korean patients with peptic ulcer diseases.
METHODS
Patients were followed up prospectively on 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after successful eradication of H. pylori using 13C-urea breath test as a diagnostic method.
RESULTS
Fifty six patients with endoscopically proven active peptic ulcers who had been treated with an anti-H. pylori eradication therapy and resulted in successful eradication, were enrolled. On one-month follow-up, 6 of 56 (10.7%) patients revealed positive tests suggesting H. pylori reappearance and on 3 and 6-month follow-up, no patients had positive results (0/47 and 0/45 respectively). On 9-month follow-up 1 of 39 (2,6%) had a positive result and on 12-months no one proved positive (0/32). The simple cumulative reinfection rate seemed to be 13.3%. But the reappearance of H. pylori on one-month follow-up was likely to be due to recrudescent infection or reinfection caused by inadequately cleaned endoscopic equipment. Taking this speculation into account, real natural reinfection rate with H. pylori in Korean patients would be 2.6%. Conculsions: In the Korean setting, annual reinfection rate with H. pylori in patients with peptic ulcer diseases following successful eradication is 2.6%.