Abstract

The National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference onHelicobacter pyloriin Peptic Ulcer Disease brought together specialists in gastroenterology, surgery, infectious diseases, epidemiology, and pathology, as well as the public to address the following questions: (1) What is the causal relationship ofH pylorito upper gastrointestinal disease? (2) How does one diagnose and eradicateH pyloriinfection? (3) Does eradication ofH pyloriinfection benefit the patient with peptic ulcer disease? (4) What is the relationship betweenH pyloriinfection and gastric malignancy? (5) WhichH pylori—infected patients should be treated? (6) What are the most important questions that must be addressed by future research inH pyloriinfections? Following 1½ days of presentations by experts and discussion by the audience, a consensus panel weighed the evidence and prepared their consensus statement. Among their findings, the consensus panel concluded that (1) ulcer patients withH pyloriinfection require treatment with antimicrobial agents in addition to antisecretory drugs whether on first presentation with the illness or on recurrence; (2) the value of treating of nonulcerative dyspepsia patients withH pyloriinfection remains to be determined; and (3) the interesting relationship betweenH pyloriinfection and gastric cancers requires further exploration. (JAMA. 1994;272:65-69)