title: Acute pancreatitis during interferon-alpha and ribavirin treatment for hepatitis C.
abstract: A patient treated with interferon-alpha and ribavirin for hepatitis C, who developed acute pancreatitis, is presented here along with a literature review. A 45-year-old Caucasian man was admitted to the intensive care unit because of an acute pancreatitis. According to the adverse drug reaction probability scale, it is probable that pancreatitis was induced by treatment (interferon and ribavirin) for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) commenced 2 months ago. We performed a literature search of all available English-language articles published on MEDLINE between January 1966 and July 2008 using the key terms "acute pancreatitis", "interferon" and "ribavirin"; only four papers were found with a total of 13 reported cases demonstrating acute pancreatitis developed during treatment for CHC. Looking out for the minimal clinical signs and symptoms of acute pancreatitis in patients with CHC using interferon and ribavirin can help to detect this relevant and rare adverse drug reaction early.
authors.affiliation: UNISUL - Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina, Medicine, Av Pedra Branca, 25, Cidade Universitária Pedra Branca, Palhoça, 88132-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: Simone Batisti
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Giroldi
authors.forename: Franciani
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: de Oliveira Basso
authors.forename: Georgia Nunes
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Antunes
authors.forename: Luis Augusto
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Borba
authors.forename: Cássio Renato Montenegro
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: de Lima