Abstract
Reports of heart transplant recipients with hepatitis C viral infection treated with peginterferon alpha-2b and ribavirin are very rare. We report a fatal case of acute allograft failure and hepatitis C viral infection in a 50-year-old orthotopic heart transplant recipient. At autopsy, the patient was found to have patent coronary arteries, diffuse severe fatty degeneration of heart myocytes, and no evidence of cellular or humoral rejection, confirming this as a fatal case of cardiotoxicity from peginterferon alpha-2b.
Copyright (c) 2010 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
MeSH terms
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Acute Disease
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Antiviral Agents / adverse effects
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Antiviral Agents / therapeutic use
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Autopsy
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Disease Progression
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Fatal Outcome
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Graft Rejection / chemically induced*
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Graft Rejection / pathology
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Heart Transplantation / adverse effects*
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Heart Transplantation / methods
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Hepatitis C, Chronic / complications
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Hepatitis C, Chronic / diagnosis
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Hepatitis C, Chronic / drug therapy*
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Humans
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Interferon alpha-2
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Interferon-alpha / adverse effects*
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Interferon-alpha / therapeutic use
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Male
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Middle Aged
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Polyethylene Glycols / adverse effects*
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Polyethylene Glycols / therapeutic use
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Recombinant Proteins
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Ribavirin / adverse effects
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Ribavirin / therapeutic use
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Risk Assessment
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Time Factors
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Transplantation, Homologous
Substances
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Antiviral Agents
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Interferon alpha-2
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Interferon-alpha
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Recombinant Proteins
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Polyethylene Glycols
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Ribavirin
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peginterferon alfa-2b