Infliximab Is Equal to Cyclosporin for Steroid-Refractory Ulcerative Colitis

Acute, severe ulcerative colitis is typically treated with high-dose intravenous steroids and considered refractory if symptoms fail to improve within 3 days. Patients with steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis who do not undergo surgery are usually treated with cyclosporin or infliximab. However, cyclosporin is problematic; clinicians outside of specialty centers are often unfamiliar with its use, which requires monitoring of blood levels and is often associated with severe toxicity. Now, researchers have compared the safety and efficacy of cyclosporin and infliximab in treating this population.

In this parallel, open-label, 98-day trial, investigators randomized 115 patients with acute, severe, steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis from 27…