Long-term outcome of treatment with infliximab in pediatric-onset Crohn's disease: A population-based study

✍ Scribed by Valérie Crombé; Julia Salleron; Guillaume Savoye; Jean-Louis Dupas; Gwénola Vernier-Massouille; Eric Lerebours; Antoine Cortot; Véronique Merle; Francis Vasseur; Dominique Turck; Corinne Gower-Rousseau; Marc Lémann; Jean-Frédéric Colombel; Alain Duhamel

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 549 KB
• Volume: 17
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1078-0998
• DOI: 10.1002/ibd.21615

✦ Synopsis

Background: We examined short-and long-term benefits and safety of infliximab (IFX) in a population-based cohort of Crohn's disease (CD) patients <17 years old at diagnosis.

Methods:

The following parameters were assessed: short-and long-term efficacy of IFX, impact of drug efficacy, and mode of administration on rate of resection surgery, growth and nutritional catch-up, and adverse events (AEs).

Results: In all, 120 patients (69 female) required IFX with a median duration of 32 months (Q1 ¼ 8-Q3 ¼ 60). Median age at diagnosis was 14.5 years (12-16) and median interval between diagnosis and IFX initiation was 41 months (22-78). Median follow-up since CD diagnosis was 111 months (75-161). Fifty patients (42%) received episodic and 70 (58%) maintenance therapy. Sixty-five (54%) patients were in the ''IFX efficacy'' group: 38 (32%) still receiving IFX at the last visit and 27 (22%) stopping IFX while in remission. The ''IFX failure'' group included 55 (46%) patients: 17 (14%) who stopped IFX due to AEs and 38 (32%) nonresponders. The risk of surgery was reduced (P ¼ 0.009) in the ''IFX efficacy'' group and lower (P ¼ 0.03) in patients with scheduled versus episodic therapy. Patients in the ''IFX efficacy'' group had significant catch-up growth (P ¼ 0.04), while those in the ''IFX failure'' group did not. Twenty-four patients presented AEs leading to cessation of IFX in 17 of them.

Conclusions:

In this population-based cohort of pediatric-onset CD, IFX treatment was effective in more than half of patients during a median follow-up of 32 months. Long-term IFX responders had a lower rate of surgery and improved catch-up in growth, especially when receiving scheduled IFX therapy.