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

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 immunemediated 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.