More Evidence TNF Inhibitors Raise Risk of Peripheral Neuropathy

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—A large epidemiological study provides more evidence of a link between tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) and peripheral neuropathy (PN).

“These events are rare and the benefit of these drugs still outweigh this risk so this should not change practice,” cautions first author Dr. Mahyar Etminan from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

“However, clinicians should let patients know what the symptoms of PN are and ask patients to notify their physician in case they happen,” he tells Reuters Health by email.

Using the PharMetrics Plus health claims database, the researchers created a cohort of more than 61,000 patients with rheumatic diseases—64.7% with rheumatoid arthritis, 27.4% psoriasis and 7.8% ankylosing spondylitis. Among this cohort, there were 1,358 incident cases of PN and each case patient was matched to 10 controls.

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