- Author:
Young Woo JANG
1
;
Young Sook PARK
;
Seong Hwan KIM
;
Yun Ju JO
;
Young Kwan JO
;
Sang Bong AHN
;
Yong Soo SEO
;
Young Ok HONG
Author Information
- Publication Type:Case Reports ; English Abstract
- Keywords: Crohn disease; Infliximab; Pregnancy
- MeSH: Adult; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal/*therapeutic use; Antibodies, Monoclonal/*therapeutic use; Capsule Endoscopy; Colon, Sigmoid/pathology; Crohn Disease/*drug therapy/pathology; Female; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Mesalamine/therapeutic use; Pregnancy; Severity of Illness Index; Term Birth; Tomography, X-Ray Computed
- From:The Korean Journal of Gastroenterology 2013;61(1):37-41
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
- Abstract: Infliximab is a chimeric IgG1 monoclonal antibody to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha used in the treatment of steroid refractory or dependent Crohn's disease (CD). Patients with active CD are more likely to experience stillbirth, preterm labor, or small for gestational aged babies. The safety of administering infliximab in pregnant patients is not well documented. A 25-year-old woman, who was diagnosed with small bowel CD three years ago, was admitted to our hospital due to the aggravation of abdominal pain. She had been treated with mesalazine, azathioprine and intermittent steroid for three years. After admission, she did not respond to steroid therapy, we decided to try infliximab. After the administration of infliximab, epigastric pain was relived and Crohn's disease activity index score decreased significantly. However after the fourth infusion of infliximab, the patient became aware that she was ten gestational weeks old pregnancy state After then, infliximab was stopped and maintained by mesalazine. The patient gave birth to a healthy baby via normal vaginal delivery without the recurrence of CD. This case suggests that infliximab administration is safe during the early period of pregnancy. Thus, we report this case with a review of literature.