Relapse rates of inflammatory bowel disease patients in deep and clinical remission after discontinuing anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha therapy

Relapse rates after discontinuing anti-tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) therapy of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients in deep remission are poorly understood. This prospective single-center open-label study evaluated the relapse rates of IBD patients after stopping anti-TNFα therapy. All IBD patients who were in clinical remission and stopped anti-TNFα therapy in 2011-2013 and were followed up for at least 12 months were enrolled. The "Ultradeep" patients were in calprotectin-negative (