Ischemic colitis during interferon treatment for chronic hepatitis C

Ischaemic colitis during interferon treatment for chronic hepatitis C: report of two cases and literature review

“…Therefore, because of its low prevalence, it is difficult to understand the clinical characteristics of this severe complication. To date, nine cases of ischaemic colitis during IFN therapy for chronic hepatitis C have been reported [7,8,10–14]. We have listed the clinical characteristics of these nine patients as well as our two patients in Table 1 and have summarized the findings in Table 2.…”

“…Ischaemic colitis is a common disease in the general population, and most patients are cured with conservative therapy; however, some patients show high rates of postoperative morbidity and mortality [9]. Although nine cases of ischaemic colitis during IFN therapy for chronic hepatitis C have been reported to date [7,8,10–14], IFN therapy was discontinued in most of these cases, and limited information is available regarding the safety of resuming IFN therapy after resolution of ischaemic colitis and subsequent recurrence.…”