Individualized treatment of duodenal ulcer disease. A pilot study

A substantial number of duodenal ulcer (DU) patients relapse despite maintenance treatment with antisecretory drugs. The influence of certain risk factors and the heterogeneity of the disease could explain such behavior. The present prospective, open study compares the one-year clinical outcome (with upper GI endoscopy at the beginning of the study, at 6 and 12 months, and at every symptomatic relapse) of four groups of DU subjects, consecutively recruited from December 1987 to December 1988, separated in accordance with whether or not a bleeding DU episode had previously occurred, and whether or not an evaluation of gastric acid secretion had been made. Thus, Group I (17 patients; 12 males, 5 females) included heavy smokers and/or gastric acid hypersecretors; Group II (13 patients; 12 males, 1 female) non- or light smokers non-hypersecretors; Group III (34 patients; 22 males, 12 females) subjects with unknown gastric acid secretion; Group IV (33 patients; 30 males, 3 females) previously bleeding DU patients. All patients, except those in Group II (who were left untreated), were given ranitidine 150 mg at bedtime. The outcome of Groups I+II was compared with that of Group III (considered as "standard therapy") and Group IV patients, the latter presumably with a low risk of relapse because of the low prevalence of smokers.