Diagnosis and treatment of latent tuberculosis in patients with multiple sclerosis, expert consensus. On behalf of the Colombian Association of Neurology, Committee of Multiple Sclerosis:

BackgroundMultiple sclerosis is an inflammatory and neurodegenerative demyelinating disease. Current treatment of multiple sclerosis focuses on the use of immunomodulatory, immunosuppressant, and selective immunosuppressant agents. Some of these medications may result in high risk of opportunistic infections including tuberculosis.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to obtain consensus from a panel of neurologists, pulmonologists, infectious disease specialists, and epidemiology experts regarding the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of latent tuberculosis in patients with multiple sclerosis.MethodsA panel of experts in multiple sclerosis and tuberculosis was established. The methodological process was performed in three phases: definition of questions, answer using Delphi methodology, and the discussion of questions not agreed.ResultsTuberculosis screening is suggested when multiple sclerosis drugs are prescribed. The recommended tests for latent tuberculosis are tuberculin and interferon gamma rel...