Clarithromycin for first-line treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection after culture in high-resistance regions.

Objective: Resistance to antibiotics is the major cause of treatment failure of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection. The culture-guided triple therapy (chosen on the basis of a preliminary in-vitro susceptibility test) might help to increase treatment success in high antibiotic resistance regions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment with clarithromycin in patients with clarithromycin-sensitive culture compared with patients treated empirically.