Radiologic and clinical assessment of broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy in Crohn's disease.
Continuous treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics resulted in symptomatic improvement in 41 of 44 patients (93%) with Crohn's disease who were treated for 6 months or longer. Radiographic follow-up demonstrated evidence of improvement in 20 of 35 patients (57%) for whom posttherapy radiographs were available. Radiography demonstrated resolution of ulcerations, abdominal masses, stenosis, and in some patients restoration of a normal intestinal mucosal pattern. In some patients these changes occurred within weeks; in others, over a period of years. Patients with perianal fistulas and patients who had previously undergone surgery and had recurrence of their disease prior to treatment with antibiotics accounted for the therapy failures.
Adolescent↗