In total, 842 patients who received QFT-GIT or TST and used biologic agents

between January 2007 and December 2012 were recruited to determine the usefulness of LTBI screening tests. The incidence of active TB was calculated relative to the LTBI screening method as the number of events per 100 000 person-years exposure. TB occurred in two of the patients who complied with an LTBI prophylaxis strategy. The TB incidence in the group that received both QFT-GIT and TST was 151.05 (95% confidence interval [CI] 150.11–151.98)/100 000 GSI-IX person-years, and the incidence was 169.78 (95% CI 168.73–170.84)/100 000 person-years in the group that received only TST. TB occurred even in some patients who received LTBI prophylaxis in compliance with national guidelines. The incidence of TB in patients who received either the QFT-GIT plus TST

prophylaxis strategy or the TST prophylaxis strategy alone was higher than the annual incidence of the general population of the Republic of Korea. It is not possible to conclude which of the LTBI prophylaxis strategies is superior. “
“Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder affecting synovial joints and many other organs. Most patients seen in clinical settings have a progressive chronic disease, with radiographic damage, frequent work disability, incremental functional declines and increased mortality TGF-beta inhibitor rates. The introduction of the biological drugs in treatment of RA has played an important role in prevention of destructive effects of the disease but may have serious adverse effects due to their powerful inhibition of the immune system. To study the adverse effects (ADEs) of three different tumor necrosis factor α inhibitor (TNFi) drugs (infliximab, adalimumab and etanercept) in RA patients for 5 years in the south-west area of Saudi Arabia. Two groups of RA patients were included in this study: The first group included 112

patients, representing the biologics group. These patients received biological therapy plus disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs): 56 patients received infliximab (IFX), 36 patients received adalimumab (ADL) and 20 patients received etanercept (ETN). The second group also very included 112 patients, representing the control group: RA patients treated only with the traditional DMARDs. ADEs were classified into mild and severe. The mild ADEs which had been recorded during 5 years of follow-up in patients receiving TNFi, were onycholysis (1.8%), positive tuberculin test (1.8%) and small vessel vasculitis (1.8%). Statistically, there were insignificant differences in the mild ADEs except for upper respiratory tract infection that was significantly higher in the control group. Severe ADEs included pneumonia (1.8%) and solid tumor (1.8%) and there were no significant differences between the biologics and control groups.