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Abdominal tuberculosis in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis and infliximab: Is the risk still too great? A case report

Abstract:

Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic inflammatory spondyloarthropathy that will cause severe symptoms and complications if left untreated. Anti-TNF-α inhibitor is the treatment of choice, yet all treatments have difficulties, and opportunistic infections following this therapy are well known. Reactivation of latent tuberculosis (TB) and abdominal TB is a serious problem in this therapy since diagnosis is difficult, as symptoms are nonspecific, and complications can be fatal. We present the case of a 47-year-old female doctor with a past medical history of ankylosing spondylitis; she was treated with infliximab. She began developing abdominal pain that led to an acute abdomen due to abdominal TB. After successful treatment, she fully recovered, and the patient is doing well in follow-ups.