Clinical Outcomes and Predictive Factors for Response after the First Course of Corticosteroid Therapy in Patients with Crohn's Disease

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study sought to determine the natural course of Crohn's disease (CD) and identify predictors that could indicate responsiveness to corticosteroid (CS) therapy. METHODS: Patients with active CD who were treated with oral CS at a single institution between August 1994 and February 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. The clinical outcomes at 1 month, 4 months, and 1 year after the treatment, as well as clinical and biochemical parameters at the time of CS initiation, were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 96 patients with CD were enrolled. In this study, 37 patients achieved complete remission (38.5%), 49 achieved partial remission (51.0%), and 10 (10.4%) showed no response at 1 month after the initiation of CS treatment. At 4 months and 1 year after treatment, 66 (69.5%) and 47 (56.6%) patients showed prolonged response, 22 (23.2%) and 20 (24.1%) showed steroid dependency, and 7 (7.4%) and 16 (19.3%) showed refractoriness, respectively. Nonstricturing and nonpenetrating behaviors and a lower CD activity index demonstrated clinical significance for mid-term or mid- and long-term steroid responses, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The short-term response rate to initial oral CS therapy in CD was considerably high, but responsiveness thereafter showed a tendency to decrease with time. Clinical parameters reflecting mild inflammation were associated with responsiveness after CS treatment.