title: Efficacy of infliximab in intestinal Behçet's disease: a Korean multicenter retrospective study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although infliximab is widely accepted as a therapeutic option for inflammatory bowel disease, its therapeutic efficacy for the treatment of intestinal Behçet's disease (BD) is unknown. We investigated the short-term and long-term response rates to infliximab in intestinal BD and predictive factors of sustained treatment response following infliximab treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was conducted using a retrospective noncontrolled review of medical records from 8 tertiary hospitals in Korea. We collected clinical, demographic, and laboratory data for patients with 28 patients with intestinal BD who received at least 1 dose of infliximab. Response rates of infliximab at 2, 4, 30, and 54 weeks for each patient and factors predictive of sustained response were investigated. Adverse events were also identified.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median duration of follow-up after initial infliximab infusion was of 29.5 months. The clinical response rates at 2, 4, 30, and 54 weeks were 75%, 64.3%, 50%, and 39.1%, respectively, with clinical remission rates of 32.1%, 28.6%, 46.2%, and 39.1%, respectively. After multivariate analysis, older age at diagnosis (≥40 yr), female sex, a longer disease duration (≥5 yr), concomitant immunomodulator use, and achievement of remission at week 4 were found to be predictive factors of sustained response. There was 1 serious infection but no malignancies or deaths in this study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Infliximab was a well-tolerated and effective therapy for patients with moderate-to-severe intestinal BD. Moreover, we found 5 predictive factors associated with sustained response, which might assist in optimal patient selection for infliximab treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin Ha
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jae Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cheon
authors.forename: Seong Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: Byong Duk
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Suk-Kyun
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Young-Ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kang-Moon
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jong Pil
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Im
authors.forename: Joo Sung
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chang Kyun
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hyo Jong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Eun Young
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyeong Ok
authors.initials: KO
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Byung Ik
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Won Ho
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005765:Gastrointestinal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D000069285:Infliximab; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D007422:Intestines / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000276:immunology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D005765:Gastrointestinal Agents; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000069285:Infliximab