A case of chronic hepatitis c with charcot-marie-tooth disease successfully treated with interferon beta and rivabirin combination therapy

A 36-year-old man diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth(CMT)disease type 1B was treated in the department of neurology of this hospital. Due to a liver injury(AST 237IU/ml, ALT 496IU/ml)which occurred in November 200X, he was introduced to our department. As a result of scrutiny, we diagnosed him with chronic hepatitis C genotype 2a(HCV-RNA 5.4logIU/ml).He will be admitted to the hospital for Interferon(IFN)therapy in April next year. Although the mechanism is unknown, there are a few reports of peripheral neuropathy related to IFN therapy. Therefore, IFN therapy is generally unfavorable for patients with neuromuscular disorders. There are several IFN preparations used in Japan. IFN alfa associated peripheral neuropathy appears less than 0.1-5% of the time. While there is no report of peripheral neuropathy related to IFN beta, we performed IFN beta and Rivabirin combination therapy with a severe follow-up by a neurologist. We could accomplish treatment without the exacerbation of neurologic symptoms. He achieved sustained viral response. When IFN therapy was provided for chronic hepatitis B or chronic hepatitis C complicated with peripheral neuropathy, there is some possibility of performing antiviral therapy safely by using IFN beta.