RESUMO
Purpose: To demonstrate the prevalence and possible risk factors of retinal complications of pegylated interferon plus ribavirin treatment on patients involved in the national campaign for treatment of chronic hepatitis C in Sharkia governorate in Egypt
Methods: The study included 646 patients with chronic hepatitis C who were receiving treatment with pegylated interferon- alpha and ribavirin combination. Ophthalmologic examination was carried out on all patients of the study that were at different times of the treatment course. Ocular examination consisted of best corrected visual acuity measurement, anterior segment biomicroscopy and dilated fundoscopy. Patients with retinopathy had colored fundus photography. Statistical analysis was done to determine the prevalence of retinopathy and the possible correlation of several variables [age, sex, duration of treatment, dose of ribavirin, virus load, type of peginterferon [PEG-IFN alpha-2a or PEG-IFN alpha-2b], diabetes, hypertension etc] to the occurrence of retinopathy in this group of patients
Results: Out of 646 patients, 120 patients developed interferon induced retinopathy, so the prevalence of interferon induced retinopathy is 18.6%. 85% of the patients with retinopathy were asymptomatic; there were statistically significant correlations between patients' age, body mass index, dose of ribavirin, diabetes mellitus, hepatitis C virus load, general side effects of interferon treatment and the occurrence of retinopathy
Conclusions: Interferon induced retinopathy is not uncommon side effect of interferon plus ribavirin treatment and stress on regular ophthalmologic follow up is mandatory especially in patients with risk factors