Long-term Outcome of Patients With Acute Ulcerative Colitis After First Course of Intravenous Corticosteroids

Data collected included epidemiological (gender, age at index flare, smoking status), clinical (UC duration, extent of the disease, prior Cs usage, disease severity, laboratory results at index flare) and treatment data (occurrence of new flares, need for further Cs therapy; CyA, thiopurines, biologics or colectomy during follow-up). The diagnosis of UC was made on basis of clinical history, symptoms, endoscopic and histological features. Disease extent was categorized by the Montreal classification and the severity of the flare was assessed by Mayo scoring system based on clinical and endoscopic characteristics. ASUC was characterized by more than six bloody stools/day along with any of the following: tachycardia, elevated temperature, anemia and/or ESR >30 mm/h (Truelove and Witt´s criteria)5. Alleviation of UC was defined as clinical response to intravenous corticosteroids with no need for colectomy or rescue therapy at the same hospitalization as the index flare. Relapse was defined as requiring further corticosteroid treatment, rehospitalization, rescue-therapy, or colectomy later in follow-up.