Painless thyroiditis occurring during long-term treatment with interferon alfa in a patient with chronic active hepatitis C.

Abstract

We describe here painless thyroiditis during interferon (IFN) therapy in a 65-year-old man with chronic active hepatitis C. The patient had hypothyroidism in the late stage of a 24-week course of treatment with IFN-alpha. After cessation of the treatment a small, firm goiter was noticed, and chronic focal thyroiditis was diagnosed histologically. Analyses of the stock serum samples drawn before, during, and after IFN-alpha therapy revealed transient hyperthyroidism followed by transient hypothyroid states with aggravation of antithyroid hormone antibody titers. These findings suggest that long-term IFN-alpha therapy caused painless thyroiditis with aggravation of autoimmunity in our patient with preexisting chronic thyroiditis.

• Authors: K Uchida, A Matsui, S Nakano, T Kigoshi, S Morimoto
• Journal: Southern medical journal (South Med J) Vol. 89 Issue 1 Pg. 81-3 (Jan 1996) ISSN: 0038-4348 [Print] United States
• PMID: 8545699 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Interferon-alpha

Topics

• Aged
• Autoimmunity
• Chronic Disease
• Hepatitis C (therapy)
• Hepatitis, Chronic (therapy)
• Humans
• Interferon-alpha (administration & dosage, adverse effects)
• Male
• Thyroiditis (etiology, immunology, pathology)