The Effects of Helicobacter pylori Eradication Therapy for Chronic Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura

BACKGROUND/AIMS The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of Helicobacter pylori eradication treatment to increase platelet counts in Korean patients with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). METHODS A total of 102 patients were evaluated against two criteria. First, those diagnosed with H. pylori infections in whom eradication was successful were assigned to the H. pylori-positive and -eradicated group (n=39), whereas those diagnosed with H. pylori infections in whom eradication failed were assigned to the H. pylori-positive and -non-eradicated group (n=3), and those without H. pylori infections were assigned to the H. pylori - negative group (n=60). Second, patients with complete remission in whom the platelet recovery effect was maintained over the average follow-up period of 6 months after eradication therapy were defined as the responder group (n=58), whereas those with partial or no response were defined as the nonresponder group (n=44). RESULTS The platelet counts of the H. pylori-positive and -eradicated group were significantly increased 6 months after eradication therapy compared to those of the H. pylori-positive and -non-eradicated group and the H. pylori-negative group (43.2±29.1 to 155.3±68.7×10³/μL vs 42.5±28.1 to 79.8±59.7×10³/μL vs 43.1±28.9 to 81.2±62.2×10³/μL; p=0.041). The eradication therapy success rate in the responder group was 100.0% (39/39), in contrast to the nonresponder group (0%, 0/3) (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS H. pylori eradication therapy was related to increased platelet count, and successful eradication affected the increased platelet count in Korean patients with chronic ITP.