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A recent Mayo Clinic safety report suggested that use of infliximab was associated with a 1% fatality rate (Journal Watch Gastroenterology February 18, 2004). Now, investigators in Sweden report outcomes of the initial 217 consecutive patients who began treatment with infliximab in Stockholm County when the drug became available in January 1999. One hundred ninety-one patients had Crohn disease, 22 had ulcerative colitis (off-label use), and 4 had indeterminate colitis. Mean age was 37.6 years; patients received a mean of 2.6 infliximab infusions (5 mg/kg).
Forty-two serious adverse events were registered in 41 patients. Eleven serious adverse events occurred postoperatively, six in patients with Crohn disease. Of three patients who develope…