Ustekinumab Use in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Ustekinumab is known to be efficient in adult patients suffering from moderate to severe Crohn disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) resistant to anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a). Here, we described the clinical course of treatment with ustekinumab in French pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients treated with ustekinumab. This study includes all pediatric patients treated by ustekinumab injection for IBD (CD and UC), between January 2016 and December 2019. Fifty-three patients were enrolled, 15 males and 38 females. Forty-eight patients (90%) had a diagnosis of CD and 5 (9.4%) had UC. Sixty-five percent of CD patients presented an ileocolitis. Perineal disease was observed in 20 out of 48 CD patients (41.7%), among them 9 were treated surgically. All patients included were resistant to anti-TNF-a treatment. Fifty-one percent had presented side effects linked to anti-TNF-a, including psoriasis and anaphylactic reaction. The average Pediatric Crohn Disease Activity Index (PCDAI) at induction was 28.7 (5–85), 18.7 (0–75) at 3 months of treatment and 10 (0–35) at the last follow-up. The average Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index at induction was 47 (25–65), 25 (15–40) at 3 months of treatment and 18.3 (0–35) at the last follow-up. No severe side effects were observed. In this retrospective, multicentral study, ustekinumab proved to be efficient in pediatric patients resistant to anti-TNF-a. PCDAI has been significantly improved in patients with severe disease, treated with ustekinumab.