Efficacy and safety of pulse steroid therapy in Japanese pediatric patients with ulcerative colitis: a survey of the Japanese Society for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Aims: We have evaluated the therapeutic efficacy and safety of pulse steroid therapy for ulcerative colitis (UC) in a Japanese pediatric population by means of a survey.

Methods: A questionnaire on UC patients treated with therapy between 2002 and 2006 was sent to 37 members of the Japanese Society for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Results: 21 of 62 cases in 6 of 19 centers registered in this study had been treated with pulse steroid therapy. The success rate of remission induction with this treatment was 55%, and improvement was observed in all cases in which remission was not achieved. There were no reports of any obvious side effects. The most common reason for using pulse steroid therapy was for remission induction in relapsed cases. Over the course of 12 (or fewer) months, the number of cases in which remission was maintained was only 1 in 4. However, the amount of concomitant steroid use had significantly decreased after 1 year.

Conclusions: This survey shows that in Japan, pulse steroid therapy is used for a relatively large number of children with UC and is as an effective method of remission induction that has few side effects.