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Introduction: Guidelines recommend that proton pump inhibitor-based triple regimens with clarithromycin not be used for Helicobacter pylori infection in areas where clarithromycin resistance is ≥15%, or in patients with prior macrolide use. Up-to-date information on local resistance patterns is limited, especially in the US. Here, we report resistance rates to antibiotics commonly used to treat H. pylori from a large study conducted in the US and Europe (pHalcon-HP)., Methods: Gastric mucosal biopsies were collected from adult participants with H. pylori infection during screening. Minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined via agar dilution for clarithromycin, amoxicillin, and metronidazole, with breakpoints ≥1 μg/mL, >0.125 μg/mL, and >8 μg/mL, respectively. Resistance rates were obtained for the US and Europe, and also for US subregions and participating European countries., Results: Resistance rates were established in isolates from 907 participants. Overall, 22.2% were resistant to clarithromycin, 1.2% to amoxicillin, and 69.2% to metronidazole. Resistance in the US and Europe was similar; metronidazole resistance was the most prevalent (50%-79%) and amoxicillin the least (≤5%). In all subregions, ≥15% of isolates were resistant to clarithromycin, except the UK (0/8 isolates). Among clarithromycin-resistant isolates, 75% were also metronidazole-resistant. Two US isolates were resistant to clarithromycin and amoxicillin; one of these was also metronidazole-resistant., Discussion: The resistance rates observed in this study argue against the continued empiric use of proton pump inhibitor-based triple therapy containing clarithromycin, per treatment guidelines, and highlight the need for antibiotic resistance surveillance and novel treatment strategies for H. pylori infection in the US and Europe., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The American College of Gastroenterology.)

Noninvasive estimation of systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP) during exercise stress echocardiography (ESE) is recommended for pulmonary hemodynamics evaluation but remains flow-dependent. Our aim was to assess the feasibility of pulmonary vascular reserve index (PVRI) estimation during ESE combining SPAP with cardiac output (CO) or exercise-time and compare its value in three group of patients: with invasively confirmed pulmonary hypertension (PH), at risk of PH development (PH risk) mainly with systemic sclerosis and in controls (C) without clinical risk factors for PH, age-matched with PH risk patients. We performed semisupine ESE in 171 subjects: 31 PH, 61 PH at risk and 50 controls as well as in 29 young, healthy normals. Rest and stress assessment included: tricuspid regurgitant flow velocity (TRV), pulmonary acceleration time (ACT), CO (Doppler-estimated). SPAP was calculated from TRV or ACT when TRV was not available. We estimated PVRI based on CO (peak CO/SPAP*0.1) or exercise-time (ESE time/SPAP*0.1). During stress, TRV was measurable in 44% patients ACT in 77%, either one in 95%. PVRI was feasible in 65% subjects with CO and 95% with exercise-time (p < 0.0001). PVRI was lower in PH compared to controls both for CO-based PVRI (group 1 = 1.0 ± 0.95 vs group 3 = 4.28 ± 2.3, p < 0.0001) or time-based PVRI estimation (0.66 ± 0.39 vs 3.95 ± 2.26, p < 0.0001). The proposed criteria for PH detection were for CO-based PVRI ≤ 1.29 and ESE-time based PVRI ≤ 1.0 and for PH risk ≤ 1.9 and ≤ 1.7 respectively. Noninvasive estimation of PVRI can be obtained in near all patients during ESE, without contrast administration, integrating TRV with ACT for SPAP assessment and using exercise time as a proxy of CO. These indices allow for comparison of pulmonary vascular dynamics in patients with varied exercise tolerance and clinical status.