Helicobacter pylori reinfection rate and duodenal ulcer recurrence in Korea

In the short term, the eradication of Helicobacter pylori in patients with duodenal ulcer (DU) is deemed to be clearly effective; the long-term effectiveness apparently depends on the H. pylori reinfection rate. We conducted the present study to investigate the rates of H. pylori reinfection and DU recurrence in 45 patients previously cured of DU in whom H. pylori had been eradicated. These patients underwent gastroscopy and tests for H. pylori at least 1 year after eradication. In a control group comprising 31 patients with DU who were not treated with H. pylori eradication regimen, the DU recurrence rate was checked annually for 4 years. Twenty of 45 patients (44.4%) in whom the mean follow-up period was 3.5 years were again found to be H. pylori positive, and the reinfection rate was 12.8% per year. DU recurred in 8 of these 20 (40%) but not in any nonreinfected patients. In the control group, the DU recurrence rate was 61% within 1 year, 81% within 2 years, 84% within 3 years, and 90% within 4 years. The respective recurrence rates in the 45 patients in whom the bacteria had been eradicated were 0%, 4%, 13%, and 18%. The H. pylori reinfection rate was as high as 12.8% per year in Korea, but in that the DU recurrence rate is significantly lower (p < 0.01; odds ratio, 129.5) in the H. pylori-eradicated group than in the control group, the eradication of H. pylori in DU patients is effective over the long term (at least 4 years).