title: Retinal vein thrombosis associated with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin combination therapy for chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: An estimated 300 million people worldwide suffer from chronic hepatitis C with a prevalence of 0.8%-1.0% of the general population in Canada. An increasing pool of evidence exists supporting the use of pegylated- interferon (pegIFN) and ribavirin combination therapy for hepatitis C. We report a 49-year old male of North American aboriginal descent with chronic hepatitis C (genotype 2b). Biopsy confirmed that he had cirrhosis with a 2-wk history of left eye pain and decreased visual acuity. He developed retinal vein thrombosis after 16 of 24 wk of pegIFN-alpha 2a and ribavirin combination therapy. He was urgently referred to a retinal specialist and diagnosed with non-ischemic central retinal vein occlusion of the left eye. PegIFN and ribavirin combination therapy was discontinued and HCV RNA was undetectable after 16 wk of treatment. Hematologic investigations revealed that the patient was a factor V Leiden heterozygote with mildly decreased protein C activity. Our patient had a number of hypercoagulable risk factors, including factor V Leiden heterozygosity, cirrhosis, and hepatitis C that alone would have most likely remained clinically silent. We speculate that in the setting of pegIFN treatment, these risk factors may coalesce and cause the retinal vein thrombosis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: Iman
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zandieh
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Adenwalla
authors.forename: Cindy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cheong-Lee
authors.forename: Patrick E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Eric M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Yoshida
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005355:Fibrosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000821:virology; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012170:Retinal Vein Occlusion / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D012254:Ribavirin; C100416:peginterferon alfa-2a