Remote abscess formation during interferon-alpha therapy for viral hepatitis.
Abscess formation at the injection site is an unusual infectious complication of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, but remote abscess formation during IFN-alpha therapy is very rare. In the present communication, we report three cases of remote abscess formation detected among 68 patients with chronic viral hepatitis treated with IFN-alpha, and review the pertinent English literature. We believe that, as fever and constitutional symptoms are common side effects of IFN-alpha treatment, a high index of suspicion is indicated to exclude abscess formation in cases of unexplained fever during IFN-alpha therapy.
Gogos
C A
CA
Patras University Medical School, Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, 26500 Rio Patras, Greece. cgogos@med.upatras.gr
Starakis
J K
JK
Bassaris
H P
HP
Skoutelis
A T
AT
D000038:Abscess / Q000209:etiology*; D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000494:pharmacology; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha