Prevalence Of Tuberculin Skin Test Positivity In Patients Of Early Rheumatoid Arthritis- Study from a tertiary care centre in North India.

  • Dr. Kriti Kishor MD, Junior Resident, Department of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology wing, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Punjab, India
  • Dr. Debashish Mishra MD, DM Senior Resident, Department of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology wing, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Punjab, India
  • Dr. Siddharth Jain MD DM, Senior Resident, Department of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology wing, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Punjab, India
  • Dr. Nusrat Shafiq MD, DM Professor, Department of Pharmacology, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Punjab, India
  • Dr. Varun Dhir MD, DM, Additional Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology wing, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Punjab, India
  • Dr. Sanjay Jain MD DM, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology wing, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Punjab, India
  • Dr. Shefali K Sharma MD, Additional Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology wing, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Punjab, India
Keywords: BCG, Mantoux test, Tuberculin, PPD, RA, LTBI

Abstract

Objective: To assess the prevalence of tuberculin skin test (TST) positivity in early rheumatoid arthritis patients (< 6months disease duration) using Tuberculin sensitivity testing in a TB endemic country.

Method: Included in this cross-sectional study were 200 patients of early rheumatoid arthritis divided into three groups- treatment naïve, patients on methotrexate only and methotrexate plus low dose corticosteroids.

Results: 200 early RA patients and 60 healthy controls were included in this study. The median age of the study population was 43 years (IQR 33-51) with a mean disease duration of 3.4 ± 2.1 months. 54 patients (27%) with early RA and 22 healthy control (36.7%) had TST positive (p=0.1).

Conclusion: Tuberculin positivity is low among patients with early RA as compared to the general population. The use of low dose steroids or methotrexate doesn’t affect the tuberculin anergy.

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CITATION
DOI: 10.17511/ijmrr.2021.i02.12
Published: 2021-04-30
How to Cite
1.
Dr. Kriti Kishor, Dr. Debashish Mishra, Dr. Siddharth Jain, Dr. Nusrat Shafiq, Dr. Varun Dhir, Dr. Sanjay Jain, Dr. Shefali K Sharma. Prevalence Of Tuberculin Skin Test Positivity In Patients Of Early Rheumatoid Arthritis- Study from a tertiary care centre in North India. . Int J Med Res Rev [Internet]. 2021Apr.30 [cited 2024Oct.14];9(2):122-8. Available from: https://ijmrr.medresearch.in/index.php/ijmrr/article/view/1277
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