NIH Consensus Conference. Helicobacter pylori in peptic ulcer disease. NIH Consensus Development Panel on Helicobacter pylori in Peptic Ulcer Disease

The National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference on<i>Helicobacter pylori</i>in 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 of<i>H pylori</i>to upper gastrointestinal disease? (2) How does one diagnose and eradicate<i>H pylori</i>infection? (3) Does eradication of<i>H pylori</i>infection benefit the patient with peptic ulcer disease? (4) What is the relationship between<i>H pylori</i>infection and gastric malignancy? (5) Which<i>H pylori</i>—infected patients should be treated? (6) What are the most important questions that must be addressed by future research in<i>H pylori</i>infections? 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 with<i>H pylori</i>infection 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 with<i>H pylori</i>infection remains to be determined; and (3) the interesting relationship between<i>H pylori</i>infection and gastric cancers requires further exploration. (<i>JAMA</i>. 1994;272:65-69)