Table 2.
Adverse events by body system in patients with rheumatoid arthritis randomised to treatment with combinations of disease modifying drugs or tumour necrosis factor inhibitors
| Body system* | Combination disease modifying drugs strategy (n=104) | Tumour necrosis factor inhibitor strategy (n=101) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serious | All | Serious | All | ||
| Cardiovascular | 2 | 22 | 2 | 17 | |
| Digestive | 0 | 148 | 4 | 60 | |
| Ear, nose, throat | 0 | 88 | 1 | 76 | |
| Endocrine/metabolic | 0 | 7 | 1 | 7 | |
| Genitourinary | 3 | 28 | 1 | 27 | |
| Haematological | 1 | 25 | 1 | 10 | |
| Mental | 0 | 24 | 0 | 15 | |
| Musculoskeletal | 0 | 104 | 1 | 94 | |
| Nervous system | 1 | 61 | 2 | 41 | |
| Ophthalmological | 0 | 12 | 0 | 5 | |
| Respiratory | 3 | 59 | 3 | 66 | |
| Skin | 0 | 57 | 2 | 47 | |
| Total | 635 | 465 | |||
*As infections involved several different body systems, they could not be incorporated within table. In combination disease modifying drugs strategy, five serious adverse events involved an infection and 30 patients had infection. In tumour necrosis factor inhibitor strategy, seven serious adverse events involved an infection and 54 patients had infection.