title: Interstitial pneumonia associated to peginterferon alpha-2a: A focus on lung function.
abstract: Pulmonary toxicity related to the use of pegylated interferon alpha-2a during treatment of hepatitis C infections is rare; nonetheless, some cases with fatal outcomes have been reported. Evaluating patients' pulmonary function is a key to diagnosis, follow-up and prognosis of several respiratory diseases, but case reports of respiratory manifestations related to the use of pegylated interferon alpha-2a have limited their findings to only baseline measurements. This paper examines the case of a 65-year-old woman with chronic hepatitis C virus infection who developed interstitial pneumonitis associated with pegylated interferon alpha-2a. Initial lung function evaluation revealed a marked reduction compared to an earlier assessment; the results were consistent with a moderate restricted pattern. Fortunately, over the ensuing 8 weeks of follow-up after discontinuing the drug, the patient recovered her lung function and experienced an overall improvement in her respiratory symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neumología, Laboratorio de Fisiología Pulmonar, Hospital Regional de Alta Especialidad de la Península de Yucatán, México; Clínica de Sueño y AIRE, Centro Médico las Américas, Mérida, Yucatán, México.
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cortés-Telles
keywords: Interstitial pneumonia; lung function; pegylated interferon alpha-2a; restrictive pattern