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Is the periodic repetition of a coagulation check necessary during anti-hepatitis C virus therapy?

¹ Medicina Interna A, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Chirurgiche, Università di Verona, Verona, Italy
² Servizio di Immunoematologia e Trasfusione, Azienda Ospedaliera di Verona, Verona, Italy

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr M Franchini
Servizio di Immunoematologia e Trasfusione, Ospedale Policlinico, Piazzale L Scuro, 10, 37134 Verona, Italy; mfranchini@univr.it

Keywords: acquired haemophilia; interferon ; coagulation factor VIII inhibitor; bleeding; chronic hepatitis

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Peginterferon and ribavirin have become the mainstay of treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.¹ However, chronic use of interferon (IFN)- has been associated with the development of autoimmune disorders, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, autoimmune haemolytic anaemia, and autoimmune thyroiditis. In particular, some reports have documented the development of acquired factor VIII inhibitors in patients receiving IFN-, including those treated for chronic HCV infection.^2–6

We report the case of a 49 year old male patient treated for chronic active HCV related cirrhosis. He received a six month course of peginterferon 2a at a dose of 180 µg weekly and ribavirin at a dose of 800 mg daily for three months only, due to a marked decrease in haemoglobin level, obtaining a complete viral response. Before therapy, activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and prothrombin time-international normalised ratio (PT-INR) values were in the normal range (aPTT ratio 1.28 and . . . [Full text of this article]