S B Rutkove1. 1. Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To describe a patient who developed an unusual polyneuropathy after treatment with interferon alfa-2a for hepatitis C and to discuss issues related to diagnosis and pathogenesis. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Tertiary care center. CASE: A 46-year-old man with chronic hepatitis C had acute onset of an axonal polyneuropathy with prominent small-fiber involvement shortly after completing a standard 6-month course of therapy with low-dose interferon alfa-2a. MAIN OUTCOME AND RESULTS: Further interferon treatment for hepatitis C was discontinued. CONCLUSION: Standard, low-dose interferon alfa-2a treatment can produce a persistent predominantly small-fiber polyneuropathy.
OBJECTIVES: To describe a patient who developed an unusual polyneuropathy after treatment with interferon alfa-2a for hepatitis C and to discuss issues related to diagnosis and pathogenesis. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Tertiary care center. CASE: A 46-year-old man with chronic hepatitis C had acute onset of an axonal polyneuropathy with prominent small-fiber involvement shortly after completing a standard 6-month course of therapy with low-dose interferon alfa-2a. MAIN OUTCOME AND RESULTS: Further interferon treatment for hepatitis C was discontinued. CONCLUSION: Standard, low-dose interferon alfa-2a treatment can produce a persistent predominantly small-fiber polyneuropathy.