Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

BACKGROUND: To determine the long-term outcome of patients admitted with acute severe colitis (ASC) who avoided colectomy on the index admission, a retrospective cohort study was performed. METHODS: Patients admitted for intensive treatment of ASC in 1992-1993 previously described for a predictive index of short-term outcome in severe ulcerative colitis (UC) were followed for a median 122 months (range 3-144). Complete responders (CR) to intensive therapy had <3 nonbloody stools/day on day 7 of the index admission; incomplete responders (IR) were all others who avoided colectomy on that admission. Main outcome measures were colectomy-free survival, time to colectomy, and duration of steroid-free remission. RESULTS: In all, 6/19 CR (32%) came to colectomy compared to 10/13 IR (P = 0.016; relative risk 3.33, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12-9.9). The median +/- interquartile range time to colectomy was 28 +/- 47 months (range 6-99) for CR who came to colectomy versus 7.5 +/- 32 (3-72) months for IR (P = 0.118). Among the IR, 7/13 came to colectomy within 12 months, and all within 6 years from the index admission. The longest period of steroid-free remission was 42 +/- 48 (0-120) months for CR, but 9 +/- 20 (1-35) months for IR (P = 0.011). CONCLUSIONS: One week after admission with ASC in the prebiologic era, IRs had a 50% chance of colectomy within a year and 70% within 5 years, despite cyclosporin and azathioprine where appropriate. The maximum duration of remission in CRs was almost 5 times longer than IRs. It is unknown whether biologics change the long-term outcome.

Original publication

DOI

10.1002/ibd.20843

Type

Journal article

Journal

Inflamm Bowel Dis

Publication Date

06/2009

Volume

15

Pages

823 - 828

Keywords

Adult, Azathioprine, Cohort Studies, Colectomy, Colitis, Ulcerative, Cost of Illness, Cyclosporine, England, Follow-Up Studies, Hospitalization, Humans, Immunosuppressive Agents, Kaplan-Meier Estimate, Middle Aged, Predictive Value of Tests, Remission Induction, Retrospective Studies, Risk Factors, Severity of Illness Index, Steroids, Time Factors