Autoimmune thrombocytopenia induced by PEG-IFN-α plus ribavirin in hepatitis C

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Abstract
Mild thrombocytopenia is a common adverse effect of interferon-alpha and pegylated interferon-alpha, largely ascribed to bone marrow suppression. Nevertheless, rare cases of autoimmune thrombocytopenia following standard or pegylated interferon treatment have been reported in the literature. In this report, we have presented a patient who developed an immune-mediated thrombocytopenia during the course of therapy with pegylated interferon/ribavirin for hepatitis C virus infection. After cessation of pegylated interferon/ribavirin treatment, thrombocytopenia was treated successfully with danazol and intravenous gamma-globulin.