Acute sensorineural hearing loss associated with peginterferon and ribavirin combination therapy during hepatitis C treatment： Outcome after resumption of therapy

• Published in: World journal of gastroenterology : WJG 2005-09, Vol.11 (34), p.5392-5393
• Main Authors: Wong, Victor-K, Cheong-Lee, Cindy, Ford, Jo-Ann-E, Yoshida, Eric-M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Antiviral Agents - administration & dosage; Antiviral Agents - adverse effects; Case Report; Drug Therapy, Combination; Female; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural - chemically induced; Hepatitis C, Chronic - drug therapy; Humans; Interferon alpha-2; Interferon-alpha - administration & dosage; Interferon-alpha - adverse effects; Middle Aged; Polyethylene Glycols; Recombinant Proteins; Ribavirin - administration & dosage; Ribavirin - adverse effects; 丙型肝炎病毒; 听力损失; 急性感觉神经损伤; 病毒唑
• ISSN: 1007-9327; 2219-2840
• DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v11.i34.5392

Peginterferon and ribavirin combination therapy for the treatment of hepatitis C virus （HCV） is well known to be associated with significant adverse effects. Sensorineural hearing loss, that in most cases is unilateral, has been reported as a consequence of therapy with both non-pegylabed and pegylated interferon （pegIFN） but is not a well-known adverse effect. We report a 45-year-old Caucasian woman who developed acute sensorineural hearing loss 2 mo after starting therapy with pegIFN-α 2b and ribavirin for the treatment of chronic HCV, genotype la. She did not report the hearing loss to the hepatitis clinic until 1 mo, later whereupon therapy was promptly discontinued. Although her serum alanine aminotransferase （ALT） normalized and her HCV-RNA became undetectable after 12 wk of pegIFN and dbavirin therapy, after discontinuation, her HCV-RNA became detectable with significant elevations of serum ALT. Four months after initial discontinuation, the patient re-commenced pegIFN and ribavirin combination therapy. After 44 of 48 wk of therapy, the patient＇s liver biochemistry has normalized and the HCV-RNA is undetectable. She has not developed worsening of her hearing loss and hearing on the left-side is unaffected. Both patients and physicians should be aware that sensorineural hearing loss may occur with pegIFN therapy. Our experience suggests that re-institution of therapy is not always associated with further hearing impairment.