TY - JOUR T1 - Occurrence of Serious Infection in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Biologics and Denosumab Observed in a Clinical Setting JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 170 LP - 176 DO - 10.3899/jrheum.161270 VL - 45 IS - 2 AU - Arthur N. Lau AU - Matthew Wong-Pack AU - Rod Rodjanapiches AU - George Ioannidis AU - Sally Wade AU - Leslie Spangler AU - Akhila Balasubramanian AU - Nicola Pannacciulli AU - Celia J.F. Lin AU - Patrick Roy-Gayos AU - William G. Bensen AU - Robert Bensen AU - Jonathan D. Adachi Y1 - 2018/02/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/45/2/170.abstract N2 - Objective. Previous studies combining biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARD) to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have shown an increased risk of infection. However, the risk of infection with concurrent use of denosumab, a biologic agent for the treatment of osteoporosis, and a bDMARD remains unclear. Here, we evaluated the incidence of serious and opportunistic infections in patients treated concurrently with denosumab and a bDMARD and patients treated with a bDMARD alone.Methods. A chart review of patients with RA from 2 Canadian rheumatology practices between July 1, 2010, and July 31, 2014, identified 2 groups of patients: those taking denosumab and a bDMARD concurrently (concurrent group) and those taking only a bDMARD (biologic-alone group). Patients were followed from the time of initiation of denosumab, or a matched index date for the biologic-alone group, to the end of the study or loss to followup. Instances of serious or opportunistic infections were recorded.Results. A total of 308 patients (n = 102 for the concurrent group and n = 206 for the biologic-alone group) were evaluated. Within the concurrent group, 3 serious infection events occurred. Within the biologic-alone group, 4 serious infection events and 1 opportunistic infection event occurred. In both groups, all patients with serious or opportunistic infection recovered, and there were no instances of death during the study period.Conclusion. This study demonstrated a low occurrence of serious and opportunistic infections in patients with RA taking bDMARD, including patients with concurrent denosumab use. ER -