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Gil Kaplan, Remo Panaccione, The Race to Block TNF-α: The Caution Flag Is Raised Again, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Volume 10, Issue 1, 1 January 2004, Pages 61–62, https://doi.org/10.1097/00054725-200401000-00010
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Serious bacterial infections in patients with rheumatoid arthritis uner anti-TNF-α therapy. Kroesen S, Widmer AF, Tyndall A and Hasler P. Rheumatology 2003;42:617–621.
This retrospective study from Basel, Switzerland assessed the incidence rates of severe infections in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients before and after receiving anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (anti-TNF-α) therapy. The authors reviewed the charts of all patients (n = 60) receiving anti-TNF-α therapy at their institution. Of the 60 patients receiving anti-TNF-α therapy, 60% were treated with etanercept and the rest with infliximab. The patients' charts were assessed for serious infections defined as infection requiring hospitalization and/or intravenous antibiotics. Charts were reviewed up to 3 1/2 years after starting anti-TNF-α therapy and all serious infections were recorded. The patients acted as their own controls as the rates of serious infections post anti-TNF-α therapy were compared to rates in the two years preceding the initiation of treatment. The authors indicated that the patients were treated with standard care for rheumatoid arthritis patients both before and after anti-TNF-α therapy.
