Very long-term treatment of peptic ulcer with cimetidine.
In an open trial, 96 patients with endoscopically proven peptic ulcers were randomly allocated to treatment with cimetidine (1 g/day) for periods of 3, 6, 9, or 12 months. After their courses of treatment, the patients were followed up for at least 6 months. In 92% the ulcers had healed after treatment for 1 month, and in a further 5% the ulcers healed during the next 2 months. Ulcers recurred during treatment in 24% of patients and within 6 months of withdrawal of treatment in a further 43%. In nearly a third of patients the recurrences were asymptomatic and were discovered only through routine endoscopic studies. Continuous treatment with full doses of cimetidine for a year seems to prevent relapse of the majority of ulcers which have healed during treatment; but it does not cure the ulcer disease, since relapse generally occurs quite rapidly when treatment is discontinued.
D002927:Cimetidine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D004381:Duodenal Ulcer / Q000188:drug therapy; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005745:Gastric Acidity Determination; D006146:Guanidines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011897:Random Allocation; D012008:Recurrence; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000188:drug therapy; D013997:Time Factors; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects
D006146:Guanidines; D002927:Cimetidine