Two Cases of Ulcerative Colitis Followed up Endoscopically after Administration of Infliximab

We report two cases of ulcerative colitis (UC) followed up endoscopically after administration of infliximab and discuss the association between endoscopic inflammation and long-term clinical outcome. Both cases, tacrolimus-refractory and moderate to severe UC, received infliximab (week 0, 2, 6 and every 8 weeks). Both cases achieved clinical and endoscopic remission at week 2. Colonoscopy 8 weeks after administration of infliximab revealed granular mucosa partially in the rectum and sigmoid colon in case 2. Both cases have maintained clinical remission for over 30 weeks (82 weeks in case 1, 36 weeks in case 2), implying an association between endoscopic remission induced early by infliximab and long-term clinical remission. Moreover, colonoscopic evaluation at week 2 may not be so important in the case of clinical remission at week 2.