The treatment of helicobacter pylori infection in the management of peptic ulcer disease

The recognition of gastritis due to Helicobacter pylori as a factor of major importance has revolutionized the therapeutic approach to peptic ulcer disease.¹,² The recurrence of ulcers can be more effectively prevented by a single course of antimicrobial treatment that eradicates H. pylori infection than by the continuous suppression of acid secretion. This concept received important support when a recent Consensus Development Conference of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommended that all patients with ulcers who are also infected with H. pylori receive antimicrobial therapy.³ Our review will focus on how to diagnose and treat H. pylori infection.