Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 7, 2015; 21(9): 2826-2829
Published online Mar 7, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i9.2826
Protracted anaphylaxis developed after peginterferon α-2a administration for chronic hepatitis C
Akihiko Sakatani, Yoshinori Doi, Takaaki Matsuda, Yasutaka Sasai, Naohiro Nishida, Megumi Sakamoto, Naoto Uenoyama, Yoshiya Matsumoto, Kazuo Kinoshita
Akihiko Sakatani, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
Yoshinori Doi, Takaaki Matsuda, Yasutaka Sasai, Naohiro Nishida, Megumi Sakamoto, Naoto Uenoyama, Kazuo Kinoshita, Department of Gastroenterology, Otemae Hospital, Osaka 540-0008, Japan
Yoshiya Matsumoto, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Otemae Hospital, Osaka 540-0008, Japan
Author contributions: Sakatani A wrote the manuscript; Doi Y, Matsuda T, Sasai Y, Nishida N, Sakamoto M, Uenoyama N, Matsumoto Y and Kinoshita K proofread and revised the manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Akihiko Sakatani, MD, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. akihiko-sakatani@umin.net
Telephone: +81-6-68793621 Fax: +81-6-68793629
Received: August 7, 2014
Peer-review started: August 8, 2014
First decision: September 27, 2014
Revised: November 2, 2014
Accepted: December 1, 2014
Article in press: December 1, 2014
Published online: March 7, 2015
Abstract

Peginterferon is a key drug used to treat chronic viral hepatitis that is known for causing various side effects. Side effects occurring immediately after administration include headache, nausea, and influenza-like symptoms, such as fever and joint pain. However, reports of anaphylactic shock are extremely rare. Here we report a patient with protracted anaphylaxis who suffered shock symptoms after peginterferon α-2a administration for chronic hepatitis C. Although the patient improved temporarily with shock treatment, symptoms of anaphylaxis recurred. As peginterferon is often administered on an outpatient basis, it is important to recognize life-threatening side effects that may develop in a protracted manner.

Keywords: Peginterferon α-2a, Anaphylaxis, Anaphylactic shock, Protracted anaphylaxis, Chronic hepatitis C

Core tip: This is the first report that describes a case involving anaphylactic shock that developed after peginterferon administration. Moreover, our case showed protracted anaphylaxis, in which symptoms appear hours after exposure to the causative substances and temporarily improve with treatment but recur twice within hours. Protracted anaphylaxis is rare; its incidence accounts for less than 20% of all cases of anaphylaxis. There are few case reports regarding this condition, and its pathophysiology has not yet been established.