Tuberculin skin test before biologic and targeted therapies: does the same rule apply for all?

Tuberculin skin test before biologic and targeted therapies: does the same rule apply for all?

İlgen, Ufuk;Karadağ, Ömer;Emmungil, Hakan;Küçükşahin, Orhan;Koca, Süleyman Serdar;Erden, Abdülsamet;Bes, Cemal;Alpay Kanıtez, Nilüfer;Dalkılıç, Ediz;Akar, Servet;Mercan, Rıdvan;Çınar, Muhammet;Kaşifoğlu, Timuçin;Gönüllü, Emel;Kimyon, Gezmiş;Ersözlü, Duygu;Atagündüz, Pamir;Kılıç, Levent;Ertenli, İhsan;Yazısız, Veli;Ateş, Aşkın;Kiraz, Sedat;Kalyoncu, Umut;
Rheumatology international 2022 Vol. 42 pp. 1797-1806
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ilgen2022tuberculinrheumatology

Abstract

This study aimed to compare Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) and QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) test in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA) patients scheduled for biological and targeted synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in a Bacillus Calmette-Guérin-vaccinated population. Adult RA (n = 206) and SpA (n = 392) patients from the TReasure database who had both TST and QFT-GIT prior to initiation of biological and targeted synthetic DMARDs were included in the study. Demographic and disease characteristics along with pre-biologic DMARD and steroid use were recorded. The distribution of TST and performance with respect to QFT-GIT were compared between RA and SpA groups. Pre-biologic conventional DMARD and steroid use was higher in the RA group. TST positivity rates were 44.2% in RA and 69.1% in SpA for a 5 mm cutoff (p < 0.001). Only 8.9% and 15% of the patients with RA and SpA, respectively, tested positive by QFT-GIT. The two tests poorly agreed in both groups at a TST cutoff of 5 mm and increasing the TST cutoff only slightly increased the agreement. Among age, sex, education and smoking status, pre-biologic steroid and conventional DMARD use, disease group, and QFT-GIT positivity, which were associated with a 5 mm or higher TST, only disease group (SpA) and QFT-GIT positivity remained significant in multiple logistic regression. TST positivity was more pronounced in SpA compared to that in RA and this was not explainable by pre-biologic DMARD and steroid use. The agreement of TST with QFT-GIT was poor in both groups. Using a 5 mm TST cutoff for both diseases could result in overestimating LTBI in SpA.

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