Phil Tozer, Siew C Ng, Muhammed R Siddiqui, Sophie Plamondon, David Burling, Arun Gupta, Anna Swatton, Sherrill Tripoli, Carolynne J Vaizey, Michael A Kamm, Robin Phillips, Ailsa Hart
BACKGROUND: Anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy heals many Crohn's disease (CD) anal fistulas clinically but the rate, extent, and durability of deep tissue healing and factors influencing long-term outcome are unknown. METHODS: Consecutive patients with CD-related perianal (anal, rectovaginal, anolabial) fistulas treated with infliximab or adalimumab were monitored prospectively both clinically and radiologically using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). RESULTS: Forty-one consecutive patients with CD-related perianal fistulas were treated with infliximab (n = 32) or adalimumab (n = 9; following infliximab failure) in combination with a thiopurine (unless intolerant)...
October 2012: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases