title: Healing the mucosa in Crohn's disease: does it matter?
abstract: Clinical remission has been the therapeutic goal of Crohn's disease treatment for many years. While it has helped to ameliorate the symptoms, this treatment strategy has not brought about significant changes in the need for abdominal surgery in the natural history of Crohn's disease. The advent of biological agents (biologics) has shown that it is possible to induce and maintain mucosal healing in a significant proportion of treated patients. Data is also emerging to show that this has translated to fewer instances of hospitalisation and surgery for these patients. This is a paradigm shift in the therapeutic goal of Crohn's disease treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Singapore General Hospital, Outram Road, Singapore. ling.khoon.lin@sgh.com.sg
authors.forename: Khoon Lin
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.forename: Sai Wei
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Chuah
authors.forename: San Choon
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Kong
mesh_terms: D001688:Biological Products / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D004724:Endoscopy; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012074:Remission Induction; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014456:Ulcer / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products