P545 Deep remission assessed by endoscopy, magnetic resonance or intestinal ultrasound, in refractory Crohn’s disease patients in clinical remission with ustekinumab: a real-life single-centre experience

M.I. Calvo Moya1, I. Omella Usieto1, Y. González Lama1, V. Matallana Royo1, I. González Partida1, B. Menchen Viso2, R. De Lucas Téllez de Meneses1, M. González Rodriguez1, P. Bella del Castillo1, M.I. Vera Mendoza1

1Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Majadahonda, Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department, IBD Unit, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain, 2Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Majadahonda, Pharmacy Department, Majadahonda Madrid, Spain

Background

Current therapeutic goals in Crohn’s disease (CD) include not only the mere absence of symptoms but also the objective resolution of macroscopic lesions, so-called deep remission (DR), which has been related to better outcomes. DR is usually acknowledged by endoscopy, although magnetic resonance (MR) or intestinal ultrasound (IUS) are also reliable, provide extramucosal information and may be more appropriate in certain clinical scenarios. Data regarding the achievement of DR with ustekinumab in real-life clinical practice is still scarce.

Methods

Retrospective cohort study carried out in a tertiary hospital between April 2017 and April 2019 including patients who had clinically active CD (Harvey–Bradshaw index [HBI] ≥ 4) objectively assessed by either endoscopy, MR or IUS; received intravenous induction with ustekinumab, had achieved clinical remission and had treatment response assessed by either endoscopy, MR or IUS. DR was defined by SES-CD 0–3 or Rutgeerts index i0 if endoscopically assessed, or by complete normalisation of inflammatory parameters on cross-sectional imaging. Endoscopic response was defined by the decrease of SES-CD of 50% compared with baseline. Radiographic response was defined by improvement in bowel wall thickness, inflammatory fat, mural blood flow and hyperenhancement compared with baseline imaging by physician global assessment. Demographics, clinical data and information regarding ustekinumab treatment were collected.

Results

90 patients treated with ustekinumab at our centre were analyzed, but only 28 met inclusion criteria (14(50%) female; median age 45 (43–50)) with a median follow-up of 19 (IQR: 15–23) months. All of them had previously failed to antiTNFα and 20 (71%) failed to ≥2 biologics. Treatment response assessment was made by endoscopy (22 cases; 79%) or cross-sectional imaging technique (6 cases; 21%) in a median time of 10 months (IQR: 7–13) from the start of treatment. Deep remission was achieved in 18 (64%) patients. Endoscopic response was achieved in 5 (18%) additional patients. Five (18%) remaining patients obtained no objective response to ustekinumab despite being in clinical remission. Patients who had received prior treatment with ≥2 biologics or those classified as B2 or B3 according to Montreal Classification were less likely to achieve deep remission, although those associations did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusion

In our experience, a majority of refractory CD patients who achieved clinical remission with ustekinumab also reached deep remission assessed by either endoscopy, MR or IUS.