Second-line and rescue therapies for Helicobacter pylori eradication in clinical practice

A levofloxacin-based triple therapy and a rifabutin-based regimen are advised as second-line and rescue therapies in the current Italian guidelines for H. pylori eradication. However, no data are available for the efficacy of these treatments in clinical practice.A total of 86 consecutive patients who failed a standard, first-line, triple therapy for H. pylori infection were treated with a 10-day triple therapy including omeprazole 20 mg, amoxycillin 1 g, and levofloxacin 250 mg or 500 mg, each given twice daily. Eradication failure patients received a 10-day rescue therapy with omeprazole 20 mg, amoxycillin 1 g, and rifabutin 150 mg, each given twice daily. A further therapeutic attempt was performed with a 14-day, high-dose dual therapy (esomeprazole 40 mg and amoxicillin 1 g, each thrice daily).Following the second-line therapy, H. pylori infection was cured in 76.4% (95% CI = 67.8-85.0) and 79.5% (95% CI = 70.8-88.2) at intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analysis, respectively. After the rescue therapy, bacterial eradication was achieved in 84.6% (95% CI = 65-100). Two patients with persistent infection were successfully cured with the high-dose dual therapy.The efficacy of levofloxacin-based second-line therapy seems to be decreasing, whilst rescue therapy with rifabutin would appear a valid third-line therapy, and a high-dose dual therapy may be used as a further rescue therapy.