Non-invasive Serological Monitoring for Crohn's Disease Postoperative Recurrence.

INTRODUCTION: Crohn's disease recurs after intestinal resection. This study evaluated accuracy of a new blood test, the Endoscopic Healing Index [EHI], in monitoring for disease recurrence. METHODS: Patients enrolled in the prospective POCER study [NCT00989560] underwent a postoperative colonoscopic assessment at 6 [2/3 of patients] and 18 months [all patients] following bowel resection, using the Rutgeerts score [recurrence ≥i2]. Serum was assessed at multiple time points for markers of endoscopic healing using the EHI, and paired with the Rutgeerts endoscopic score as the reference standard. RESULTS: A total of 131 patients provided 437 serum samples, which were paired with endoscopic assessments available in 94 patients [30 with recurrence] at 6 months and 107 patients [44 with recurrence] at 18 months. The median EHI at 6 months was significantly lower in patients in remission [Rutgeerts