title: [Pulmonal sarcoidosis: A rare side effect of interferon-alpha treatment for chronic hepatitis C infection].
abstract: This is a case report of a 44-year-old woman who received a 1-year-treatment with interferon-alpha for chronic hepatitis C virus infection. 3 months after cessation of the therapy she relapsed and was successfully retreated 12 months with a combination of interferon-alpha and ribavirin thereafter. During the treatment the patient developed a typical flue-like syndrome, dry cough with exertional dyspnea that was initially interpreted as a typical side effect of interferon-alpha treatment. Due to the persisting cough, further radiologic and histologic work up was done and results were significant for interstitial sarcoidosis. After interferon-treatment was stopped the pulmonary symptoms resolved completely while pathologic changes in radiographic imaging persisted. Interferon-alpha may have contributed to the development and progression of sarcoidosis by activation of cellular immunity. Although there are only few reports about pulmonary sarcoidosis associated with interferon-alpha treatment, this entity should be included in the differential diagnosis of putative side effects of interferon-alpha therapy.
authors.affiliation: Innere Medizin IV der Medizinischen Klinik und Poliklinik, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. Juergen_Pohl@med.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pohl
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Stremmel
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kallinowski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012307:Risk Factors; D017565:Sarcoidosis, Pulmonary / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012254:Ribavirin
vernacular_title: Pulmonale Sarkoidose: eine seltene Nebenwirkung einer Interferon-alpha-Therapie bei chronischer Hepatitis-C-Infektion.