Case Report

Painless Thyroiditis Occurring During Long-term Treatment With Interferon Alfa in a Patient With Chronic Active Hepatitis C

Authors: KENZO UCHIDA MD, AKIRA MATSUI MD, SHIGERU NAKANO MD, TOSHIKAZU KIGOSHI MD, SHINPEI MORIMOTO MD

Abstract

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-α. 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-α therapy revealed transient hyperthyroidism followed by transient hypothyroid states with aggravation of antithyroid hormone antibody titers. These findings suggest that long-term IFN-α therapy caused painless thyroiditis with aggravation of autoimmunity in our patient with preexisting chronic thyroiditis

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References