Key clinical point: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with Janus kinase (JAK) vs tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors were at a higher risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE), particularly pulmonary embolism.
Major finding: Patients treated with JAK vs TNF inhibitors were at a 73% higher risk for VTE (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.73; 95% CI 1.24-2.42), with the higher risk appearing to be confined to pulmonary embolism (aHR 3.21; 95% CI 2.11-4.88) rather than deep vein thrombosis.
Study details: Findings are from a prospective, register-based, active comparator study including 85,722 patients with RA, of which 27,610 patients initiated biologic/targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and were matched with 91,207 healthy controls.
Disclosures: This study was funded by Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Heart Lung Foundation, and other sources. Karolinska Institutet has or has had research agreements with various sources for safety monitoring of biologics through ARTIS/Swedish Biologics Register.
Source: Molander V et al. Venous thromboembolism with JAK inhibitors and other immune-modulatory drugs: A Swedish comparative safety study among patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis . 2022 (Sep 23). Doi: 10.1136/ard-2022-223050