Edouard Louis, Jean-Yves Mary, Gwenola Vernier-Massouille, Jean-Charles Grimaud, Yoram Bouhnik, David Laharie, Jean-Louis Dupas, Hélène Pillant, Laurence Picon, Michel Veyrac, Mathurin Flamant, Guillaume Savoye, Raymond Jian, Martine Devos, Raphaël Porcher, Gilles Paintaud, Eric Piver, Jean-Frédéric Colombel, Marc Lemann
BACKGROUND & AIMS: It is important to determine whether infliximab therapy can be safely interrupted in patients with Crohn's disease who have undergone a period of prolonged remission. We assessed the risk of relapse after infliximab therapy was discontinued in patients on combined maintenance therapy with antimetabolites and identified factors associated with relapse. METHODS: We performed a prospective study of 115 patients with Crohn's disease who were treated for at least 1 year with scheduled infliximab and an antimetabolite and had been in corticosteroid-free remission for at least 6 months...
January 2012: Gastroenterology