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A case of hearing loss associated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment ameliorated by prednisone

Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume 6, pages 57–60 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Background A 51-year-old white man with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who was infected with HCV genotype 2b presented with sudden left-sided hearing loss. He had been taking pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin treatment for 6 weeks without any notable adverse effects. He had also been taking naproxen for 2 years for the treatment of chronic back pain.

Investigations Physical examination, laboratory tests, including complete blood counts and liver function tests, otoscopic examination, audiogram, MRI of the middle ear, objective causality assessment using the Naranjo probability scale.

Diagnosis PEG-IFN-induced acute sensorineural hearing loss.

Management Prednisone while maintaining treatment with PEG-IFN.

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Figure 1: Audiograms of the patient's left ear at the onset of hearing loss and at two follow-up visits.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Andrea Stevens, an audiologist, for her assistance in interpreting the audiogram and in representing the findings as a graph.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. V Le is a Resident, T Bader is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology and J Fazili is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology, all at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.,

    Vu Le, Ted Bader & Javid Fazili

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  1. Vu Le
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  2. Ted Bader
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  3. Javid Fazili
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Correspondence to Ted Bader.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Le, V., Bader, T. & Fazili, J. A case of hearing loss associated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment ameliorated by prednisone. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 6, 57–60 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpgasthep1317

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