Source: Bone | Posted 5 years ago
Patients With Erosive Esophagitis Get More Heartburn Relief From Esomeprazole
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By Paula Moyer
LAS VEGAS, NV -- October 24, 2006 -- Esomeprazole (Nexium) is more effective in treating symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in patients who have erosive esophagitis (EE) than in those who do not, according to investigators who presented their findings here at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting (ACG).
"After 2 and 4 weeks of treatment, heartburn resolution rates were higher in patients with EE than those without EE at baseline," said principal investigator Roy C. Orlando, MD, professor of medicine, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, in a presentation on October 22[]nd[]. "Such patients also were more likely to have resolution of acid regurgitation, epigastric pain, and dysphagia at those time points."
Because the focus of treatment for EE has been the reduction of gastric acid production, in order to promote mucosal healing, Dr. Orlando and colleagues conducted a multicenter, open-label study in which they recruited 399 GERD patients, 205 with EE and 194 without EE. Patients were eligible if they had heartburn for at least 2 days a week for the previous 3 months.
The investigators assessed GERD symptoms at baseline and at weeks 2 and 4 after treatment with esomeprazole at a dose of 40 mg daily.
At baseline, all patients had heartburn, and 87.4% had acid regurgitation, 79.5% had epigastric pain, and 47.5% had dysphagia. At week 2, 56% of those with EE and 36.2% of those without EE had resolution of heartburn. At week 4, those rates were 66.3% and 46.0%, respectively ([]P[] < .0001 for each timepoint).
Resolution of acid regurgitation occurred in 68.7% and 51.7%, respectively ([]P[] = .0011). At week 4, the resolution rates were 74.9% and 62.7%, respectively ([]P[] = .0134).
The investigators saw similar differences by EE status for epigastric pain at weeks 2 ([]P[] < .0001) and 4 ([]P[] = .0002). However, the groups had similarly high rates of response for dysphagia, ranging from 70.3% to 82.7%.
Nexium is manufactured by AstraZeneca, which supported the study.
[Presentation title: Effect of Erosive Esophagitis (EE) at Baseline on Symptom Resolution on Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) After 4 Weeks of Esomeprazole Treatment. Abstract P24]
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