Year: 2009
Type: article
Study design: Case Report
Abstract: Hepatitis C is considered a public health and economic problem worldwide 1 .An estimated 180 million people are chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), and 3 to 4 million new cases of infection occur annually 1 .HCV is a single-stranded RNA virus, belonging to the Flaviviridae family and the Hepacivirus genus 2-4 .Six distinct genotypes and 76 subtypes have been described 5,6 .The current treatment for hepatitis C is administration of interferon alpha (IFN-α) or its most recent form, pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN), combined with ribavirin and the duration of treatment ranging from 12 to 24 weeks depending on the genotype involved 7 .The use of interferon has been associated with many neuropsychiatric complications, such as fatigue, confusional state, seizures, depression and even risk of suicidal ideation 8,9 .In recent years, it has emerged that patients treated with IFN-α or Peg-IFN can present rare neurological motor complications, such as dystonia, myorhythmia, chorea and Parkinsonism syndrome [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] .There have been few reported cases of Parkinsonism in hepatitis C patients treated with interferon, and there is therefore a need to clarify the treatment options in such cases.Here, we describe the case of a patient who developed Parkinsonism upon being treated with Peg-IFN-α. CASEA 65-year-old female patient, diagnosed 2 years prior with chronic hepatitis C, genotype 3, and probably infected via a blood transfusion performed 16 years earlier, presented to the Fundação de Medicina Tropical do Amazonas complaining of intense fatigue.She presented a Fatigue Severity Scale score of 4. 1 points.She was hypertensive and was under continuous treatment with propranolol.The patient had no history of neurological disease.Treatment was started with Peg-IFN-α 2a (180 µg/ week) plus ribavirin (1 g/day).After exactly 2 months of using this medication, she presented symmetrical stiffness in the upper limbs and low-frequency tremors at rest and posture.The results of the cognitive and postural examinations, as well as
Source: Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria
Institution: Fundação de Medicina Tropical
Language: English
Topic: Hepatitis C virus research
Subfield: Hepatology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $200
OpenAlex ID: W1978378176