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Authors | Year | Disease | Treatment | Number of patients | Length of preceding remission | Number of patients allocated to different groups | Study duration | Outcome |
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Riis et al. [9] | 1973 | UC | Sulphasalazine | 49 | ≥12 months | Continue on drug: 25, placebo: 24 | 6 months | No significant difference between the relapse rates (24 versus 29%) |
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Dissanayake and Truelove [10] | 1973 | UC | Sulphasalazine | 64 | ≥12 months | Continue on drug: 33, placebo: 31 | 6 months | Significantly higher relapse rate in the placebo group (>50% versus 12%) |
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Ardizzone et al. [11] | 1999 | UC | 5-ASA | 112 | ≥12 months | Group A (in remission for 1-2 years): continue on drug: 26, placebo: 35; Group B (in remission for >2 years): continue on drug: 28, placebo: 23 | 12 months | Group A: no significant difference after 6 months, but significantly higher relapse rates in the placebo group after 12 months (23% versus 49%). Group B: no significant difference at 6 and 12 months. |
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Hawthorne et al. [12] | 1992 | UC | Azathioprine | 79 | ≥2 months or chronic stable disease | Remission group: continue on drug: 33, placebo: 34; chronic stable disease group: continue on drug: 7, placebo: 5 | 12 months | Remission group: significantly higher relapse rate in the placebo group (59% versus 36%); chronic stable disease: azathioprine group: 71% relapsed within 6 months; placebo-treated patients: 40% relapsed |
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O’Donoghue et al. [13] | 1978 | CD | Azathioprine | 51 | ≥6 months | Continue on drug: 24, placebo: 27 | 12 months | Significantly higher relapse rate in the placebo group at 6 months (25 versus 0%) and 12 months (41 versus 5%) |
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Vilien et al. [14] | 2004 | CD | Azathioprine | 28 | ≥3 months (≥2 years treated with azathioprine) | Continue on drug: 13, stop drug: 15 | 12 months | Significantly higher relapse rate in the no azathioprine group at 12 months (53 versus 15%), higher azathioprine dose-subgroup (>1.60 mg/kg/day: 67 versus 11%) |
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Lémann et al. [15] | 2005 | CD | Azathioprine | 83 | ≥42 months | Continue on drug: 40, placebo: 43 | 18 months | Significantly higher relapse rate in the placebo group (20.9 versus 7.5%) |
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