K. Bonfiglioli

LTBI screening in rheumatoid arthritis patients prior to anti-TNF treatment in an endemic area.

SETTING Recommendations for screening for latent tuberculous infection (LTBI) in patients eligible for anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) agents remain unclear in endemic regions. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the long-term efficacy of LTBI screening and treatment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving TNF blockers. DESIGN A total of 202 RA patients were screened for LTBI before receiving anti-TNF treatment using the tuberculin skin test (TST), chest X-ray (CXR) and history of exposure to tuberculosis (TB). All subjects were regularly followed at 1- to 3-month intervals. RESULTS Eighty-five patients (42%) were treated with a single anti-TNF agent, while 117 patients (58%) changed anti-TNF agents once or twice. LTBI screening was positive in 66 patients, 44 were TST-positive, 23 had a history of TB exposure and 14 had an abnormal CXR. Exposure alone accounted for LTBI diagnosis in 14 patients with a negative TST. LTBI patients were treated with isoniazid (300 mg/day) for 6 months, and none developed TB. During follow-up, TST was repeated in 51 patients. Conversion was observed in 5; 3 were diagnosed with LTBI and 2 with active TB respectively 14 and 36 months after receiving anti-TNF treatment, suggesting new TB exposure. CONCLUSION LTBI screening and treatment before anti-TNF treatment is effective in endemic areas and reinforces the importance of establishing contact history for diagnosing LTBI in RA patients.

Rastreamento da infecção latente por tuberculose em pacientes com artrite idiopática juvenil previamente à terapia anti‐TNF em um país de alto risco para tuberculose

OBJECTIVES To evaluate, in an endemic country, the long-term efficacy of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) screening and primary prophylaxis in patients with JIA receiving TNF blockers. METHODS This was a retrospective cohort that included JIA patients eligible to anti-TNF therapy. Patients were screened for LTBI prior to anti-TNF using tuberculin skin test (TST), chest X-ray and history of exposure to TB. Subjects were regularly followed at 2-month intervals. RESULTS Sixty-nine JIA patients with current age of 17.4±5.8 years, mean disease duration of 5.0±4.9 years were included. Forty-seven patients received a single anti-TNF, while 22 patients switched to another anti-TNF once or twice: 57 were treated with etanercepte, 33 patients with adalimumab and 3 infliximab. LTBI screening was positive in three patients: one had TST-positive and history of TB exposure and two had solely TST-positive. No active TB was diagnosed during the study period (median of follow-up was 3.8 years). CONCLUSION Long-term evaluation revealed that LTBI screening and primary prophylaxis before anti-TNF treatment was effective in a high-risk country and TST was the most sensitive parameter to identify these patients.

Latent tuberculosis infection screening in juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients preceding anti-TNF therapy in a tuberculosis high-risk country

OBJECTIVES To evaluate, in an endemic country, the long-term efficacy of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) screening and primary prophylaxis in patients with JIA receiving TNF blockers. METHODS This was a retrospective cohort that included JIA patients eligible to anti-TNF therapy. Patients were screened for LTBI prior to anti-TNF using tuberculin skin test (TST), chest X-ray and history of exposure to TB. Subjects were regularly followed at 2-month intervals. RESULTS Sixty-nine JIA patients with current age of 17.4±5.8 years, mean disease duration of 5.0±4.9 years were included. Forty-seven patients received a single anti-TNF, while 22 patients switched to another anti-TNF once or twice: 57 were treated with etanercepte, 33 patients with adalimumab and 3 infliximab. LTBI screening was positive in three patients: one had TST-positive and history of TB exposure and two had solely TST-positive. No active TB was diagnosed during the study period (median of follow-up was 3.8 years). CONCLUSION Long-term evaluation revealed that LTBI screening and primary prophylaxis before anti-TNF treatment was effective in a high-risk country and TST was the most sensitive parameter to identify these patients.

AB0417 Biological drugs in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: real life data in a brazilian multicentric study

Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease, characterised by inflammatory involvement of the synovial joints. The ”treat to target” concept is well established in the rheumatologic community, however, in many patients, especially in developing countries, its implementation is not feasible. Considering the high costs of treatment com of RA and the limited national epidemiological data available on this disease, we sought to describe the profile of use of biological drugs in Brazilian patients with RA to help the decision-making process by public health managers. Objectives To describe the frequency and time of use of biological drugs in Brazilian patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods The REAL – RA in real life in Brazil – is a multicenter prospective cohort study, with twelve-month follow-up period. To be included in this study, consecutive patients from 11 tertiary rheumatology centres had to meet the 1987 ACR or the 2010 ACR/European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) criteria. Data were collected during routine clinical care and previous medical records were used as secondary sources. The present study present data taken from the participants’ initial assessment. This research was approved by the Ethics Committees of each centre. Results A total of 1125 patients were analysed. 89% were women with a mean age of 56.6 years. The main clinic data were: DAS 28 (median)=3.52, HAQ (median)=0.87 and CDAI (median)=9. 1022 (90.84%) used synthetic DMARDs and 406 (36.09%) biologic therapy. The frequency of use of the biologic therapy was: abatacept (73 patients/6.49%), etanercept (66/5.87%), tocilizumab (60/5.33%), adalimumab (54/4.8%), infliximab (50/4.44%), rituximab (49/4.36%), golimumab (37/3.29%), certolizumab (17, 1.51%). The time of use of the biological drugs is presented in table 1.Abstract AB0417 – Table 1 Time (in years) of use of biological drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis DRUG MEAN MAXIMUM ABATACEPT 1.95 8 ADALIMUMAB 1.70 12 CERTOLIZUMAB 0.63 2.0 ETANERCEPT 1.49 9.0 GOLIMUMAB 0.65 2.0 INFLIXIMAB 1.56 9.0 RITUXIMAB 1.27 6.0 TOCILIZUMABE 2.0 6.0 Conclusions The therapeutic profile of this cohort of Brazilian RA patients shows some interesting results. The relatively high number of patients on biologics, compared to other studies, may be related to fact that the centres involved were reference centres, probably dealing with more difficult cases. References [1] Azevedo AB, Ferraz MB, Ciconelli RM. Indirect Costs of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Brazil. Value in Health2008;11(5):869–877. [2] Boonen A, Severens JL. The burden of illness of rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Rheumatol2011;30(Suppl 1):S3–S8. Disclosure of Interest None declared