EFFICACY OF 10 - DAY LEVOFLOXACIN CONTAINING SEQUENTIAL THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH HELICOBACTER PYLORI–ASSOCIATED CHRONIC GASTRITIS
Background: The increasing of antibiotic resistance in H. pylori has become a main cause for treatment failure. A 10-day levofloxacin containing sequential therapy is efficient and safe in eradication H. pylori infection in an area with high prevalence of clarithromycin resistance. Aims: To evaluate the efficacy of 10day levofloxacin containing sequential therapy as first-line treatment for H. pylori eradication, side effects, symptoms and endoscopic responses and improvement of histological features in Centre Vietnam. Patients and methods: 120 Naïve H. pylori positive patients were received levofloxacin containing sequential therapy (rabeprazole 20mg twice daily, amoxicillin 1g twice daily for 5 days followed by rabeprazole 20mg, levofloxacin 500mg, and tinidazole 500mg, twice daily for 5 more days). These patients tested positive for H. pylori by urease test and gastric mucosal biopsy presented mononuclear cell infiltrating in lamina propria. Results: Intention to treat (ITT) eradication rates of RA-RLT was 73.5%. Per protocol (PP) eradication rates were 81.5%. Overall, 33.7% experienced mild to moderate adverse events. No patient stopped the treatment because of side effects. 6 months after H. pylori eradication clinical symptoms and only edema undergoing endoscopy significantly improved. Grade of activity inflammation and stage of gastritis significantly decreased at 6 months. Intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia did not change significantly at 6 months. Conclusion: 10day levofloxacin containing sequential therapy may be considered as one of the first choices in H. pylori eradication in Central Vietnam. H. pylori eradication may improve clinical symptoms, inflammative activity and stage of gastritis in histology. Key words: H. pylori, gastritis, levofloxacin