title: High-dose famotidine in the maintenance treatment of refractory esophagitis: results of a "medium-term" open study.
abstract: Forty-four patients with esophagitis refractory to standard H2-blocker therapy, who had healed after a 4- to 16-wk course with either 20-40 mg omeprazole or ranitidine at doses of 300-600 mg daily in a randomized double-blind study, commenced a 3-month maintenance course of therapy with 40 mg bid famotidine. The aims of this investigation were to assess the effectiveness of this regimen in preventing recurrence of esophagitis lesions and symptoms in this subgroup of patients with therapy-resistant disease and to verify whether patients previously healed with omeprazole have a higher recurrence rate than those healed with ranitidine. The results of the study show that, despite the high dose of famotidine, 48% of patients relapsed within 3 months, a third of whom were asymptomatic. Moreover, previous omeprazole treatment is associated with a significantly higher risk of recurrence.
authors.affiliation: Gastrointestinal Unit, L. Sacco Hospital, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bianchi-Porro
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pace
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sangaletti
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peracchia
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bonavina
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vigneri
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Termini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004941:Esophagitis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004945:Esophagoscopy; D015738:Famotidine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009853:Omeprazole / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011899:Ranitidine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012008:Recurrence; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D015738:Famotidine; D011899:Ranitidine; D009853:Omeprazole