World J Gastroenterol. Jun 14, 2007; 13(22): 3137-3140 Published online Jun 14, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i22.3137
Intraocular complications of IFN-α and ribavirin therapy in patients with chronic viral hepatitis C
Damien Sène, Valérie Touitou, Bahram Bodaghi, David Saadoun, Gabriel Perlemuter, Nathalie Cassoux, Jean-Charles Piette, Phuc Le Hoang, Patrice Cacoub
Damien Sène, David Saadoun, Jean-Charles Piette, Patrice Cacoub, Department of Internal Medicine, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
Valérie Touitou, Bahram Bodaghi, Nathalie Cassoux, Phuc Le Hoang, Department of Ophtalmology, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
Gabriel Perlemuter, Department of Hepatogastroenterology, Hôpital Antoine Béclère, Clamart. France
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Patrice Cacoub, MD, Professor, Service de Médecine Interne, Hôpital La Pitié-Salpêtrière, 83, Boulevard de l’Hôpital, 75651 Cedex 13 Paris, France. patrice.cacoub@psl.aphp.fr
Telephone: +33-1-42178027 Fax: +33-1-42178033
Received: January 18, 2007 Revised: February 1, 2007 Accepted: February 8, 2007 Published online: June 14, 2007
Abstract
We report a panel of severe inflammatory and vascular intraocular disorders occurring during interferon-alpha (IFN-α) treatment in eight hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients. These events include three cases of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada like (VKH) disease (an association of panuveitis, retinal detachment, ear and meningeal detachment and skin and hair changes), two cases of central retinal vein occlusion, one case of central retinal artery occlusion, one case of severe hypertensive retinopathy and one case of bilateral ischemic optic neuropathy with severe visual impairment. Rare as they are, such severe ophthalmological complications require a close follow-up of HCV-infected patients under IFN-α treatment with ophthalmological monitoring if any ocular manifestation occurs.
