OBJECTIVETo analyze the clinical features of interstitial pneumonitis (IP) associated with interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis C.

METHODSWe report the first case of IP in China resulting from pegylated interferon alpha-2a in combination with ribavirin for treatment of hepatitis C viral infection. A statistical analysis of the related literatures documenting such IP cases was performed using SPSS 11.5 software.

RESULTSOf the 22 patients reported to develop IP after interferon therapy alone or in combination with ribavirin, 83%, 72% and 56% of the patients had the symptoms of dyspnoea, dry cough and fever, respectively. Twenty of these cases presented with restrictive pulmonary functional impairment and/or hypoxemia, and diffuse infiltration on chest radiography and/or CT. Complications were documented in 71% of the cases within 12 weeks of the treatment. The majority (85%) of the patients had favorable prognoses with an average recovery time of 7.5 weeks. Compared with the patients with mild and moderate pulmonary function impairment, 8 patients with severe pulmonary functional impairment had early onset of IP during the interferon therapy (6.6 vs 14.1 weeks, P<0.05), and a higher rate of corticosteroid treatment (75% vs 54%, P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONIP is a rare pulmonary complication associated with IFN therapy, and patients with chronic hepatitis C should be followed up closely in the first 12 weeks of interferon therapy. Prompt discontinuation of medication is mandatory in the presence of IP, and corticosteroid therapy may not be essential for patients with mild or moderate pulmonary functional impairment under close monitoring. The severity of pulmonary damage is associated with the time of complication occurrence, and corticosteroids are required when obvious pulmonary toxicity occurs in early stage of the treatment (within 6 weeks) to reduce the pulmonary damage.