DOI: 10.1097/01.jcp.0000227348.59912.5d
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PMID: 16855476
Issn Print: 0271-0749
Publication Date: 2006/08/01
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Excerpt
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is common worldwide and currently accounts for 40% of chronic liver disease in the United States.1 The current standard of care for the treatment of HCV involves weekly injections of pegylated interferon alfa (IFN) along with daily oral ribavirin.2 The optimal duration of therapy is as yet unclear, but recent evidence suggests that 24 weeks may suffice for those with genotypes 2 and 3 of the virus, whereas those with the more common genotype 1 are generally treated for 48 weeks.3 Although successful in eradicating the virus from approximately half of carriers,2 treatment with IFN carries significant risks.4
Neuropsychiatric adverse effects are commonly reported in patients being treated with IFN.5 Although cognitive and affective symptoms are most common, a number of reports have appeared describing patients who experienced an IFN-induced psychosis.6-9 In these patients, psychotic symptoms were generally found to emerge during the period of treatment with IFN and to resolve shortly after the withdrawal of IFN with or without the adjuvant use of antipsychotic medications. In the following case report, we describe a patient who presented with a persistent and refractory psychosis after the completion of IFN therapy.
