Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Noguera-Julian, Antoni
• Calzada-Hernández, Joan
• Brinkmann, Folke
• Basu Roy, Robindra
• Bilogortseva, Olga
• Buettcher, Michael
• Carvalho, Isabel
• Chechenyeva, Vira
• Falcón, Lola
• Goetzinger, Florian
• Guerrero-Laleona, Carmelo
• Hoffmann, Peter
• Jelusic, Marija
• Niehues, Tim
• Ozere, Iveta
• Shackley, Fiona
• Suciliene, Elena
• Welch, Steven B
• Schölvinck, Elisabeth H
• Ritz, Nicole
• Tebruegge, Marc

Titel

Tuberculosis Disease in Children and Adolescents on Therapy With Antitumor Necrosis Factor-ɑ Agents: A Collaborative, Multicenter Paediatric Tuberculosis Network European Trials Group (ptbnet) Study

Ist Teil von

• Clinical infectious diseases, 2020-12, Vol.71 (10), p.2561-2569

Ort / Verlag

US: Oxford University Press

Erscheinungsjahr

2020

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Oxford Journals 2020 Medicine

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Abstract Background In adults, anti–tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) therapy is associated with progression of latent tuberculosis (TB) infection (LTBI) to TB disease, but pediatric data are limited. Methods Retrospective multicenter study within the Paediatric Tuberculosis Network European Trials Group, capturing patients <18 years who developed TB disease during anti–TNF-α therapy. Results Sixty-six tertiary healthcare institutions providing care for children with TB participated. Nineteen cases were identified: Crohn’s disease (n = 8; 42%) and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (n = 6; 32%) were the commonest underlying conditions. Immune-based TB screening (tuberculin skin test and/or interferon-γ release assay) was performed in 15 patients before commencing anti–TNF-α therapy but only identified 1 LTBI case; 13 patients were already receiving immunosuppressants at the time of screening. The median interval between starting anti–TNF-α therapy and TB diagnosis was 13.1 (IQR, 7.1–20.3) months. All cases presented with severe disease, predominantly miliary TB (n = 14; 78%). One case was diagnosed postmortem. TB was microbiologically confirmed in 15 cases (79%). The median duration of anti-TB treatment was 50 (IQR, 46–66) weeks. Five of 15 (33%) cases who had completed TB treatment had long-term sequelae. Conclusions LTBI screening is frequently false-negative in this patient population, likely due to immunosuppressants impairing test performance. Therefore, patients with immune-mediated diseases should be screened for LTBI at the point of diagnosis, before commencing immunosuppressive medication. Children on anti–TNF-α therapy are prone to severe TB disease and significant long-term morbidity. Those observations underscore the need for robust LTBI screening programs in this high-risk patient population, even in low-TB-prevalence settings. Children and adolescents on tumor necrosis factor-ɑ inhibitors are prone to severe tuberculosis disease, especially miliary tuberculosis, resulting in significant morbidity. False-negative immunodiagnostic tests are common and a low threshold to initiate targeted investigations is recommended.