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. 2006 Jun;91(6 Suppl):ECR26.

Severe autoimmune hemolytic anemia in a patient with chronic hepatitis C during treatment with peginterferon alfa-2a and ribavirin

Cristiana Cauli  1 , Giancarlo Serra, Luchino Chessa, Cinzia Balestrieri, Rosetta Scioscia, Maria Eliana Lai, Patrizia Farci
Affiliations
  • PMID: 16785129

Severe autoimmune hemolytic anemia in a patient with chronic hepatitis C during treatment with peginterferon alfa-2a and ribavirin

Cristiana Cauli et al. Haematologica. 2006 Jun.

Abstract

Peginterferon (Peg-IFN) alfa in combination with ribavirin represents the gold standard treatment for chronic hepatitis C, but is associated with various side effects, especially hematological abnormalities. We report here a case of severe autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) complicated by symptomatic myocardial ischemia in a patient with chronic hepatitis C during combination therapy. The worsening hemolysis after ribavirin withdrawal and exclusion of other causes implicated Peg-IFN alfa as the cause of AIHA. Our study demonstrates that in patients without preexisting immunological abnormalities Peg-IFN can de novo induce autoimmune complications that, albeit rarely, may be life-threatening.

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