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. 2021 Dec 22;9(2):ofab641.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab641. eCollection 2022 Feb.

Association of Tumor Necrosis Factor α Inhibitor Use with Diagnostic Features and Mortality of Tuberculosis in the United States, 2010-2017

Shereen S Katrak  1   2 , Rongxia Li  3 , Sue Reynolds  3 , Suzanne M Marks  3 , Jessica R Probst  4 , Terence Chorba  3 , Kevin Winthrop  5 , Kenneth G Castro  4 , Neela D Goswami  3   4
Affiliations

Association of Tumor Necrosis Factor α Inhibitor Use with Diagnostic Features and Mortality of Tuberculosis in the United States, 2010-2017

Shereen S Katrak et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: An elevated risk of tuberculosis (TB) disease in persons who have received tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitor medications (TNF-α inhibitors) has been reported for nearly two decades, but clinical diagnostic features and outcomes of TB in this population remain poorly described.

Methods: We analyzed national surveillance data for TB cases among persons aged 15 years and older reported in the United States during 2010-2017 and associated mortality data reported through 2019 to describe the clinical characteristics of those receiving TNF-α inhibitors.

Results: Of 70 129 TB cases analyzed, 504 (0.7%) of the patients had TNF-α inhibitor use reported at TB diagnosis. Patients with TNF-α inhibitor use at TB diagnosis were more likely than TB patients not receiving TNF-α inhibitors to have TB diagnosed in extrapulmonary sites in conjunction with pulmonary sites (28.8% vs 10.0%, P < .001). Patients receiving TNF-α inhibitors were less likely to have acid-fast bacilli noted on sputum smear microscopy (25.6% vs 39.1%, P = .04), and more likely to have drug-resistant disease (13.5% vs 10.0%, P < .001). TB-attributed deaths did not significantly differ between patients receiving and not receiving TNF-α inhibitors (adjusted odds ratio, 1.46 [95% confidence interval, .95-2.26]).

Conclusions: Clinicians evaluating TNF-α inhibitor-treated patients should have a high index of suspicion for TB and be aware that extrapulmonary or sputum smear-negative TB disease is more common in these patients. No significantly diminished survival of TB patients treated with TNF-α inhibitor therapy before TB diagnosis was noted.

Keywords: TNF-α inhibitor; biologic; immunocompromised host; mycobacterial disease; tuberculosis.

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