Hepatitis B Virus Screening and Reactivation in a National VA Cohort of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease Treated with Tumor Necrosis Factor Antagonists

Background Practice guidelines recommend screening for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection prior to initiating treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy. However, the adherence to these screening guidelines and the clinical outcomes of HBV reactivation following anti-TNF use are not well known.