title: Early detection of interstitial pneumonia by monitoring KL-6 in a chronic hepatitis C patient undergoing pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy.
abstract: A 58-year-old woman with chronic hepatitis C developed interstitial pneumonia (IP) while undergoing pegylated interferon (PEG IFN)-α-2a and ribavirin (RBV) therapy. Serum levels of sialylated carbohydrate antigen KL-6 (KL-6), a known marker of disease activity in fibrosing lung disorders, had been regularly measured once a month for early detection of IP, and had begun rising noticeably from 12 weeks to 540 U/mL at 33 weeks of treatment. On examination, remarkable fine crackles were detected by dorsal auscultation and bilateral ground-glass opacities and reticular shadows were depicted by computed tomography. The patient successfully recovered from her early-stage pneumonia by immediate discontinuation of therapy, which indicates that regular monitoring of serum KL-6 may be effective for avoidance of IP progression induced by PEG IFN and RBV therapy.
authors: Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Department of Radiology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors: Yuki
authors: Y
authors: Ichikawa-Yamada
authors: Satoru
authors: S
authors: Joshita
authors: Yoshinori
authors: Y
authors: Tsukahara
authors: Takefumi
authors: T
authors: Kimura
authors: Susumu
authors: S
authors: Morita
authors: Atsushi
authors: A
authors: Kamijo
authors: Takeji
authors: T
authors: Umemura
authors: Tetsuya
authors: T
authors: Ichijo
authors: Akihiro
authors: A
authors: Matsumoto
authors: Kaname
authors: K
authors: Yoshizawa
authors: Eiji
authors: E
authors: Tanaka