IMPACT OF EARLY DISEASE CLEARANCE ON LONG-TERM OUTCOMES IN ULCERATIVE COLITIS: A MULTICENTER COHORT STUDY

Background: Clinical remission and endoscopic mucosal healing are the main treatment targets in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Recently, the concept of disease clearance has been proposed as a potential target in UC. Aim: To evaluate the impact of disease clearance on long-term outcomes in UC patients. Methods: A multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted at the Humanitas Research Hospital-IRCCS (Italy) and at the Nancy University Hospital (France). Disease clearance was defined as simultaneous clinical (partial-Mayo score ≤2), endoscopic (endoscopic-Mayo score=0), and histological (Nancy index=0) remission, and patients were monitored over a long-time follow-up (≥12 months), to compare the occurrence of negative outcomes. Results: A total of 494 patients with UC was included in the study (269, 54.4% males). Disease clearance was present in 109 patients (22.1%) at baseline. Median follow up was 24 months. Patients with disease clearance were associated to a significantly lower risk of UC-related hospitalization compared with the control group (5.5% vs 23.1%; p<0.001) at last observation. Similarly, a lower rate of surgeries was detected in patients with disease clearance at baseline compared with those without (1.8% vs 10.9%; p= 0.003). The Kaplan Meier curves confirmed that patients with disease clearance at baseline had a lower risk of hospitalization (log-rank p<0.0001) and surgery (log-rank p<0.00095). Conclusion: Patients with early disease clearance are at significant lower risk for hospitalization and surgery. Disease clearance should be considered as a new composite outcome.