Is there a role of magnetic resonance imaging in deciding to stop anti-tumor necrosis factor treatment in ileal Crohn's disease?

PURPOSE: This study was performed to assess the ability of magnetic resonance enterography to predict the evolution of patients in whom anti-tumor necrosis factor-α therapy was suspended.

METHODS: A prospective study of patients with ileal Crohn's disease was performed.

RESULTS: Twenty-nine patients were included. Patients who later relapsed showed higher magnetic resonance scores than those who did not relapse (4.2 vs. 2.5, respectively; p<0.02). The area under the receiving-operating characteristics curve was 0.755 when discriminating patients who relapsed.

CONCLUSIONS: Magnetic resonance enterography should be taken into account when deciding the withdrawal of anti-tumor necrosis factor-α in patients with Crohn's disease.