High- versus low-dose proton pump inhibitors after endoscopic hemostasis in patients with peptic ulcer bleeding: a multicentre, randomized study.

Background: The most effective schedule of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) administration following endoscopic hemostasis of bleeding ulcers remains uncertain.

Methods: Patients with actively bleeding ulcers and those with nonbleeding visible vessel or adherent clot were treated with epinephrine injection and/or thermal coagulation, and randomized to receive intravenous PPIs according to an intensive regimen (80 mg bolus followed by 8 mg/h as continuous infusion for 72 h) or a standard regimen (40 mg bolus daily followed by saline infusion for 72 h). After the infusion, all patients were given 20 mg PPI twice daily orally.

From trials to a real hospital setting: effectiveness of pegylated interferon-alpha-2b/ribavirin combination therapy for naïve chronic hepatitis C patients.

Registration trials regarding pegylated interferon treatment of hepatitis C have created great expectations for improved results, but there is little information on actual outcomes in everyday hospital practice. We aimed to define the effectiveness of this treatment in a hospital setting. Seventy-four naïve patients with hepatitis C treated with 12 kD-pegylated-interferon-alpha-2-b/ribavirin (PEG-IFN) were retrospectively analyzed in comparison with 54 patients treated with IFN-alpha-2-b/ribavirin (STANDARD IFN) and with results of three main registration trials.

Triple (interferon, ribavirin, amantadine) versus double (interferon, ribavirin) re-therapy for interferon relapser genotype 1b HCV chronic active hepatitis patients.

BACKGROUND: Retreatment for 6 months with the association ribavirin-interferon of HCV-related chronic active hepatitis relapser patients has high probability of failure, mostly in those with genotype 1b. We evaluated the efficacy of extending the therapy from 6 to 12 months without or with the addition of amantadine. METHODS: Forty-nine genotype 1b relapser patients were treated with 3 MU of IFN-alpha2b three times per week and ribavirin 1000-1200 mg daily (double therapy).