First-line eradication of H pylori infection in Europe: A meta-analysis based on congress abstracts, 1997-2004

Table 4 The effect of antibiotic combinations on the eradication of H pylori in European countries (pooled estimation of all treatment arms)

Antibioticcombination	Cases (n)	Studies (n)	Treatmentarms (n)	PER %	95% CI	P	References
PPI + C + A	5610	40	49	81.3	77.8-84.8		12,14,22,24,26,31-34,36,39-42, 44-46,48,52,54-56,58,60-70,72-79,79
PPI + C + N	2080	25	27	83.8	81.7-85.9	0.961	14,23,25,27,28,32-34,39,43,44,47,48, 57,62,67-69,71-73,76,78
PPI + A + N	1577	15	19	73.5	66.6-78.5	0.012 < 0.05 0.0013 < 0.05	11,16,33,38,39,41,54-56,68,69,73, 78,79
RBC + C + A	589	8	9	82.6	76.2-89.0		12-14,17,22-26,30
RBC + C + N	1285	15	17	78.0	71.4-84.6	0.744	10,11,13-15,17-19,21,23-25,27,28,30
RBC + A + N	186	1	1	76.5	67.3-88.7	0.725	16,17

Test of homogeneity: PPI + C + A, χ² = 1.13, P = 0.28; PPI + C + N, χ² = 4.47, P = 0.03 < 0.05; PPI + A + N, χ² = 1.07, P = 0.29; RBC + C + A, χ² = 2.58, P = 0.11; RBC + C + N, χ² = 1.49, P = 0.47; RBC + A + N, χ² = 3.12, P = 0.1. C: clarithromycin; A: amoxicillin; N: nitroimidazole, PPI: proton pump inhibitors; RBC: ranitidin bismuth citrate. Notes:

¹ PPI + C + A vs PPI + C + N;

² PPI + C + A vs PPI + A + N;

³PPI + C + N vs PPI + A +N;

⁴ RBC + C + A vs RBC + C + N;

⁵ RBC + C + CA vs RBC + A + N.