Retinal vascular complications associated with interferon‐ribavirin therapy for chronic hepatitis C: A population‐based study

Abstract

Interferon-ribavirin therapy was associated with a 53.3% increased risk of retinal vascular complications compared with not receiving the therapy. Regular ophthalmologic examination is essential for patients receiving interferon-ribavirin, particularly those with hypertension.

Medications Damaging Vascular Bed or Causing Microvasculopathy / Occlusion-1: Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Treatment (Interferon, IL2- Denileukin Diftitox, Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor-Imatinib, Ergot Alkaloids, Talc)

“…[6] IFN-α (İnterferon α) etkisi ile retinal vasküler komplikasyon görülme riski %53 olarak bildirilmiştir. [7] IFN-α kullanımına bağlı gelişen retinopatide riski artıran faktörler; diyabet, hipertansiyon, ilacın dozu, hemoglobin değeri ve pegile-IFN kullanımıdır. [6,[8][9][10] Birçok hastada retinal toksisite asemptomatik seyreder, fakat fundustaki değişiklikler tedavinin 12. haftasında görülmeye başlar ve genelde asemptomatiktir.…”

Increased Risk of Age-Related Macular Degeneration with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection: A Nationwide Population-Based Propensity Score-Matched Cohort Study in Taiwan

“…Many studies have reported the detection of HCV and its antigen in the tears and aqueous humor of seropositive patients [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. In addition, HCV infection has been indicated to be associated with many ocular pathophysiologies such as acute vision loss [ 19 ], retinopathy [ 20 , 21 ], retinal pigment epithelitis [ 22 ], uveitis [ 23 ], cataract [ 24 ], and dry eye disease [ 25 , 26 ]. Recently, dry eye disease [ 25 ] and ischemic retinopathy caused by either HCV-induced vasculitis [ 20 ] or interferon treatment [ 25 , 26 ] have been reported to be strongly associated with the ocular manifestations of HCV infection.…”

“…In addition, HCV infection has been indicated to be associated with many ocular pathophysiologies such as acute vision loss [ 19 ], retinopathy [ 20 , 21 ], retinal pigment epithelitis [ 22 ], uveitis [ 23 ], cataract [ 24 ], and dry eye disease [ 25 , 26 ]. Recently, dry eye disease [ 25 ] and ischemic retinopathy caused by either HCV-induced vasculitis [ 20 ] or interferon treatment [ 25 , 26 ] have been reported to be strongly associated with the ocular manifestations of HCV infection. The pathogenesis of ocular changes may be the direct action of viral and immunological reactions to certain viral antigens and even immune complexes [ 27 ].…”

Analysis of Different Types of Interferon-Associated Retinopathy in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection Treated with Pegylated Interferon Plus Ribavirin

“…However, these ocular syndromes were reported in small case series and individual patients. In a retrospective cohort study involving 4736 patients from the Taiwan National Health Insurance (NHI) Research Database, Lai et al (2018) indicated that the risk of retinopathy was 1.53 times higher in patients receiving interferon-ribavirin therapy for HCV infection than in patients with HCV not receiving the therapy (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.14-2.06; p = 0.0048) [16]. Nevertheless, the study did not adjust for all potential confounding factors or evaluate retinopathy subtypes.…”

“…Nevertheless, the study did not adjust for all potential confounding factors or evaluate retinopathy subtypes. Furthermore, studies have suggested that patients with HCV and comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertension have an increased risk of ocular complications, but the results have been inconsistent [16,17].…”