Infliximab as a bridge to remission maintained by antimetabolite therapy in Crohn's disease: A retrospective study.

Abstract Background Infliximab withdrawal in patients with Crohn's disease on concomitant antimetabolite therapy is considered to be superior if obtained after a maintenance therapy period compared to induction alone. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the outcome of Crohn's disease patients treated with infliximab and an antimetabolite after infliximab was withdrawn using induction alone or induction plus at least 1-year of maintenance therapy. The time to relapse was analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses. The model was adjusted according to the period of infliximab withdrawal. Results A total of 92 patients were included, 54 in the induction alone group. The patient characteristics were identical in the two groups except for the period of infliximab withdrawal. After a median follow-up period of 47.1 (interquartile range = 4.4–110.2) months, 66 patients (72%) experienced a relapse. After a year-adjustment, no significant difference was observed between the two groups. Based on year-adjusted multivariate analysis, the risk factors for relapse were active smoking, previous antimetabolite failure, and perianal disease. After relapse, 53 patients (80%) were retreated with infliximab. After infliximab retreatment, clinical remission was observed in 47 patients (89%) at weeks 8–10. Conclusion In Crohn's disease patients, the probability of relapse on antimetabolite therapy after infliximab withdrawal was not superior after a 1-year scheduled maintenance therapy as compared with an induction alone.