Cyclosporine or infliximab as rescue therapy in severe 2 refractory ulcerative colitis: Early and long-term data 3 from a retrospective observational study

Introduction: About 30–40% of patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis (UC) fail to respond 23 to intensive intravenous (iv) corticosteroid treatment. Iv cyclosporine and infliximab are an ef- 24 fective rescue therapy in steroid-refractory UC patients but up to now it is still unclear which is Q225 the best therapeutic choice in this setting of patients. 26 Methods: We reviewed our series of severe steroid-refractory colitis admitted consecutively in 27 our referral center since 1994 comparing two historical cohort treated with cyclosporine or 28 infliximab. Iv cyclosporine was administered at the dosage of 2 mg/kg and infliximab at the dos- 29 age of 5 mg/kg. The main outcome was the…