analysis of the clinical efficacy of infliximab in the treatment of steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis in children

Background: incidence of ulcerative colitis (uc) in children has increased worldwide. objectives: in the current study, we summarized our clinical experience using infliximab (ifx) in the treatment of children with steroid-refractory uc. methods: the clinical data of 9 steroid-refractory uc patients with average age of 8 years who were treated with ifx in our hospital were analyzed. results: at the end of the induction period, 6 achieved a clinically significant response. of the 6 children, 4 had mucosal healing and 2 had endoscopic remission. at week 30, among the 6 children who achieved a clinically significant response, 3 had persistent clinical remission and mucosal healing, 1 achieved mucosal healing from endoscopic remission, 1 had mild disease, and the other child had not reached 30 weeks of treatment as of this writing. at week 54, 6 of 9 children achieved clinical remission and 5 had mucosal healing. the hemoglobin concentration in the children who achieved a clinically significant response was higher than pre-treatment and the inflammation markers were lower than pre-treatment. during ifx treatment, five children had a loss of response, three had a primary non-response, and two had a secondary non-response. the latter children achieved clinical remission with optimized treatment. conclusions: ifx is a salvage treatment option for children with moderate-to-severe steroid-refractory uc. the course of treatment and the timing of drug withdrawal warrants further study