A case of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy after treatment with pegylated interferon α-2a in a patient with chronic hepatitis B virus infection

Abstract

We report the case of a 42-year-old man with chronic hepatitis B virus infection who developed weakness and paresthesia in the extremities 2 months after administration of pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN)α-2a. Nerve conduction studies conducted 6 months after onset showed abnormal temporal dispersions in both tibial nerves. We diagnosed chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) resulting from treatment with Peg-IFNα-2a. Neurological symptoms were prolonged despite suspension of the treatment. Subsequent treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin improved both clinical symptoms and temporal dispersion. IFNα-induced CIDP is rare, but can reportedly progress even after interruption of IFN-α without immunotherapy. Patients presenting with polyneuropathy after initiation of IFN-α thus require close attention.

Progress in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for CIDP

“…The clinical use of interferon (IFN) has been reported [43,44,45], but there are cases of CIDP caused by the use of IFN to treat other diseases [46,47,48], mainly the complications after IFN is used to treat viral infectious diseases such as HIV and HCV. In 1999, a randomized controlled trial confirmed that IFN-β-1α had no obvious effect on CIDP patients with resistance to first-line treatments [49].…”