Interferon-induced Parkinsonism in a patient with chronic hepatitis C.

Dr. Carlos Mauricio Almeida – Rua Billy Holiday 36 / 402-C 69050-440 Manaus AM Brasil. E-mail: [email protected] Hepatitis C is considered a public health and economic problem worldwide. 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. HCV is a single-stranded RNA virus, belonging to the Flaviviridae family and the Hepacivirus genus. Six distinct genotypes and 76 subtypes have been described. 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. The use of interferon has been associated with many neuropsychiatric complications, such as fatigue, confusional state, seizures, depression and even risk of suicidal ideation. 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. 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.