Improvement in atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia in patients in whom Helicobacter pylori was eradicated.

BACKGROUND

Glandular atrophy and intestinal metaplasia are precancerous lesions; whether Helicobacter pylori eradication affects these lesions is controversial.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether H. pylori eradication is associated with improvement in glandular atrophy and intestinal metaplasia after at least 1 year.

DESIGN

Single-blind, uncontrolled prospective trial.

SETTING

Academic gastroenterology clinic in Japan.

PATIENTS: 163 consecutive patients with dyspepsia and H. pylori infection.

INTERVENTION: One-week course of a proton-pump inhibitor and antibiotic therapy.

MEASUREMENTS: Endoscopic examination with antral and corporal biopsy was done before treatment and at 1 to 3 and 12 to 15 months after treatment. Gastritis, atrophy, and metaplasia were graded according to the updated Sydney System.

RESULTS

In the 115 patients in whom H. pylori was eradicated, inflammation and mean neutrophil activity had decreased by 1 to 3 months, and both glandular atrophy in the corpus and intestinal metaplasia in the antrum had decreased by 12 to 15 months. Glandular atrophy in the corpus improved in 34 (89%) of 38 patients with atrophy before treatment, and intestinal metaplasia in the antrum improved in 28 (61%) of 46 patients who had metaplasia at baseline. In the 48 patients in whom eradication was unsuccessful, no significant histologic changes were observed.

CONCLUSION

In the year after successful H. pylori eradication, precancerous lesions improved in most patients.