This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Carol Ann Olson, MD, PhD
Abbott Laboratories Abbott Park, Ill

JAMA. 1996;276(14):1135-1136.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—The assertion by Dr Soll¹ that "single-antibiotic combinations of either clarithromycin or amoxicillin with PPIs... efficacy is less than 70%" is incorrect. While appropriate for amoxicillin, this efficacy level is not valid for clarithromycin. The H pylori eradication rate of 83% for clarithromycin and omeprazole has been published.² Clarithromycin plus omeprazole yielded consistent eradication rates of 74% or more in 3 of 4 well-controlled studies, which were the basis for FDA approval of this combination.³ These studies were randomized double-blind, multicenter studies with rigorous assessment of H pylori status and follow-up for 6 months posttreatment; they represent both US and European populations. In contrast, essentially all results presented in Figure 1 in the Consensus Statement by Dr Soll were from unblinded studies, mostly conducted in Europe.

Differences in study design and assessment of H pylori eradication hamper comparisons among studies. The most effective regimen can only be . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?