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  • Title: Incidence and clinical characteristics of hepatitis B virus reactivation in HBsAg-negative/HBcAb-positive patients receiving rituximab for rheumatoid arthritis.
    Author: Tien YC, Yen HH, Chiu YM.
    Journal: Clin Exp Rheumatol; 2017; 35(5):831-836. PubMed ID: 28375829.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVES: To analyse the incidence, clinical characteristics, and prognosis of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen negative/core antibody positive serostatus (HBsAg-/HBcAb+), who underwent rituximab therapy and developed HBV reactivation. METHODS: Medical records of RA patients with different HBV serostatus who received rituximab from January 2000 through January 2015 were reviewed. Case notes of four HBsAg-/HBcAb+ patients with RA who had HBV reactivation during treatment with rituximab were excerpted and summarised. We also searched the Medline (PubMed) database to identify published reports of other HBsAg-/HBcAb+ RA patients who likewise developed HBV reactivation during rituximab treatment. RESULTS: The study cohort comprised 54 RA patients who received rituximab, of whom 44 (81.5%) were HBsAg-/HBcAb+ whilst receiving rituximab. Four HBsAg-/HBcAb+ patients had HBV reactivations during rituximab therapy; thus, the incidence of HBV reactivation in the HBsAg-/HBcAb+ group was 9.1%. The literature search discovered another three cases, making a total of at least seven known rituximab-treated HBsAg-/HBcAb+ RA patients who have developed HBV reactivation. The mean duration from the first rituximab infusion to HBV reactivation was 25.4±4.6 months; no fatalities occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately 9% of Taiwanese RA patients with HBsAg-/HBcAb+ serostatus had HBV reactivation around 2 years after starting regular rituximab therapy; they all had a relatively good prognosis.
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