Efficacy of short-duration Furazolidone in two different quadruple regimens for H. pylori eradication

Objective: to assess the efficacy and tolerability of using high dose furazolidone just during the first week of two different quadruple regimens in eradicating h. pylori. methodology: one-hundred sixty patients with duodenal ulcer and positive h. pylori infection were randomly allocated into two groups. group a received (oam-f) omeprazole (20 mg bid), amoxicillin (1gr bid), metronidazole (500mg bid) for two weeks and furazolidone (200 mg bid) just during the first week. patients in group b received (oab-f) omeprazole (20 mg bid), amoxicillin (1 gr bid), bismuth subcitrate (240 mg bid) for two weeks and furazolidone (200 mg bid) in the first week. results: the eradication rates by per-protocol and intention-to-treat analyses were 86.36% and 80% in group a and 90.27% and 86.3% in group b, respectively. severe side effects of the drugs were more prevalent in group a compared with group b (12.8% against 2.5% ) conclusions: one-week furazolidone combined with two-week omeprazole, amoxicillin and bismuth subcitrate is a safe and cost effective regimen to eradicate of h pylori infection in iran.