TY - JOUR T1 - The Distribution of Congenital Anomalies Within the VACTERL Association Among Tumor Necrosis Factor Antagonist-exposed Pregnancies Is Similar to the General Population JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol DO - 10.3899/jrheum.101316 SP - jrheum.101316 AU - Hubertina J.M.J. Crijns AU - Janneke Jentink AU - Ester Garne AU - Christine C. Gispen-de Wied AU - Sabine M.J.M. Straus AU - Lolkje T.W. de Jong-van den Berg Y1 - 2011/07/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2011/06/24/jrheum.101316.abstract N2 - Objective To compare the distribution of congenital anomalies within the VACTERL association (vertebral defects, anal atresia, cardiac, tracheoesophageal, renal, and limb abnormalities) between patients exposed to tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) antagonist and the general population. Methods Analysis for comparison of proportional differences to a previous publication between anomaly subgroups, according to subgroup definitions of the European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies (EUROCAT), a population-based database. Results Most EUROCAT subgroups belonging to the VACTERL association contained only one or 2 records of TNF-α antagonist exposure, so comparison of proportions was imprecise. Only the category “limb abnormalities” showed a significantly higher proportion in the general population. Conclusion The high number of congenital anomalies belonging to the VACTERL association from a report of pregnancies exposed to TNF-α antagonists could not be confirmed using a population-based congenital anomaly database. ER -