Using disproportionality analysis to explore the association between periostitis and triazole antifungals in the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System Database

Though triazole antifungals are the first choice for preventing and treating invasive fungal infections, periostitis caused by voriconazole has been described in emerging case reports; however, no studies exist on this association in real-world clinical settings. Our study aimed to identify the association between periostitis and triazole antifungals by analyzing data from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). We extracted and analyzed reports on the association between periostitis and triazole antifungals in FAERS from the first quarter of 2004 to the second quarter of 2022 using OpenVigil 2.1. Disproportionality analysis was performed to evaluate the association between periostitis and triazole antifungals, and chi-squared (χ(2)), relative reporting ratio (RRR), reporting odds ratio (ROR), proportional reporting ratio (PRR), and Bayesian confidence propagation neural networks (BCPNN) of information components (IC) were reported. In total, 143 patients experienced periostitis while using voriconazole. Disproportionality analysis identified an association between periostitis and voriconazole (χ(2) = 82,689.0, RRR = 583.6, 95%CI [472.4, 721.1], PRR = 1808.9, 95%CI [1356.0, 2412.9], ROR = 1831.7, 95%CI [1371.6, 2446.3], IC = 9.2, 95%CI [8.6, 9.8]). However, no safety signals were observed between periostitis and other triazole antifungals. When stratified by sex and age, disproportionality analysis identified positive signals between periostitis and voriconazole. The possible association between periostitis and voriconazole should attract sufficient attention in clinical practice. Alternative treatment with other triazole antifungals can be considered, and causality needs to be verified in further prospective studies.