INTRAVENOUS CYCLOSPORINE IN ATTACKS OF ULCERATIVE-COLITIS - SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM RESPONSES

The present study reports the results of intravenous cyclosporine in 3 2 patients with refractory and/or severe attacks of ulcerative colitis (UC). Twenty of 32 patients responded to intravenous cyclosporine; cy closporine was clinically effective and improved colonic lesions. Howe ver, one colonic perforation and one postoperative death were observed in two patients with severe endoscopic colitis who had failed to reac h clinical remission with high-dose corticosteroids and cyclosporine. Moreover, after a median follow-up of 190 days, only one-third of the patients avoided colectomy. No predictive factor of response to cyclos porine was identified. This study confirms that cyclosporine is effect ive in severe UC but suggests that its use could be associated with se rious complications in patients with severe lesions who had failed to settle with corticosteroids and cyclosporine.