Ménétrièr's disease associated with Helicobacter pylori infection: resolution of enlarged gastric folds and hypoproteinemia after antibacterial treatment.

Abstract

We herein report a case of a 46-yr-old female with Ménétrièr's disease associated with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, in whom the appearance of enlarged gastric folds and hypoproteinemia were both successfully treated by antibacterial treatment. The patient had been treated with famotidine for 3 yr under a diagnosis of Ménétrièr's disease, which caused an increase in her serum protein concentration to a level at which she suffered no clinical problems; however, the concentration never reached a normal range, and the presence of enlarged gastric folds also remained unchanged. Because H. pylori colonization was detected in the stomach and was also retrospectively recognized in the initial histologic specimens, antibacterial treatment with omeprazole, clarithromycin, and metronidazole was thus attempted. As a result of the successful eradication of H. pylori, the enlarged gastric folds returned to normal and the serum protein concentration thus increased to a normal level after the treatment. The etiology of Ménétrièr's disease remains unknown; however, the above findings suggest that H. pylori infection may in some cases cause Ménétrièr's disease and should therefore be carefully treated in any patient with this condition.