Radiologic and clinical assessment of broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy in Crohn's disease.

Continuous treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics resulted in symptomatic improvement in 41 of 44 patients (93%) with Crohn's disease who were treated for 6 months or longer. Radiographic follow-up demonstrated evidence of improvement in 20 of 35 patients (57%) for whom posttherapy radiographs were available. Radiography demonstrated resolution of ulcerations, abdominal masses, stenosis, and in some patients restoration of a normal intestinal mucosal pattern. In some patients these changes occurred within weeks; in others, over a period of years. Patients with perianal fistulas and patients who had previously undergone surgery and had recurrence of their disease prior to treatment with antibiotics accounted for the therapy failures.