1.
Scand J Gastroenterol
; 39(4): 401-3, 2004 Apr.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-15125477
ABSTRACT
Chronic hepatitis C has been implicated in the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis in several cases of patients treated with interferon-alpha. On the other hand, only in a few cases previously has a possible link between sarcoidosis and untreated chronic hepatitis C virus infection been demonstrated. We report on a patient with chronic hepatitis C who developed cutaneous sarcoidosis without prior interferon-alpha treatment. We hypothesize that viral persistence seen in chronic hepatitis C virus infection might be one of the potential factors that trigger cellular immune response in granulomatous reactions as seen in sarcoidosis, in genetically predisposed patients.