Infections are a major adverse effect during the treatment with anti-TNF-α. While exclusion of any bacterial infection and screening for tuberculosis are mandatory before initiating a therapy with anti-TNF- α-antibo...Infections are a major adverse effect during the treatment with anti-TNF-α. While exclusion of any bacterial infection and screening for tuberculosis are mandatory before initiating a therapy with anti-TNF- α-antibodies, there are no guidelines whether to screen for or how to deal with chronic viral infections such as hepatitis B. In this case report, we have described a patient with Crohn＇s disease who developed subfulminant hepatitis B after the fourth infusion of infliximab due to an unrecognized HBs-antigen carrier state. He recovered completely after lamivudine therapy was started, but this severe adverse event could have been prevented if screening for HBV and pre-emptive therapy with lamivudine would have been started prior to infliximab. We therefore strongly argue in favor of extended screening recommendations for infectious diseases including viral infections before considering a therapy with infliximab.展开更多
基金Supported by the"Verein zur F rderung der Wissenschaft in Gastroenterologie und Hepatologie"
文摘Infections are a major adverse effect during the treatment with anti-TNF-α. While exclusion of any bacterial infection and screening for tuberculosis are mandatory before initiating a therapy with anti-TNF- α-antibodies, there are no guidelines whether to screen for or how to deal with chronic viral infections such as hepatitis B. In this case report, we have described a patient with Crohn＇s disease who developed subfulminant hepatitis B after the fourth infusion of infliximab due to an unrecognized HBs-antigen carrier state. He recovered completely after lamivudine therapy was started, but this severe adverse event could have been prevented if screening for HBV and pre-emptive therapy with lamivudine would have been started prior to infliximab. We therefore strongly argue in favor of extended screening recommendations for infectious diseases including viral infections before considering a therapy with infliximab.
