Interferon therapy elicited a transient tachycardic response and increased ventricular premature contractions in 2 of 13 patients on the first day of treatment.
Does interferon therapy cause a hyperadrenergic state and cardiovascular events in patients with chronic hepatitis C?
Interferon therapy causes a transient tachycardic response on the first day of treatment, potentially increasing the risk of arrhythmias.
Absolute Event Rate: 0% vs 0%
We investigated the hypothesis that interferon-induced hyperadrenergic state causes cardiovascular events. Thirteeen patients with chronic hepatitis C who were scheduled to undergo interferon therapy were randomly selected for this study. Heart rate was monitored and urinary levels of catecholamines were measured before, on the 1st day, and after 1 week and 4 weeks of treatment. On the 1 st day, 24-hr average heart rate and hourly average heart rate were significantly higher than those before treatment, although they retuned to baseline levels after 1 week and 4 weeks. However, urinary levels of cathecholamines did not change significantly on the 1 st day. Two patients had an increased number of ventricular premature contractions on the 1 st day of interferon therapy. Although the direct evidence that interferon stimulates sympathetic nervous system could not be obtained, interferon elicited tachycardic response and may have increased the risk of arrhythmias of the 1 st day of the treatment.
Yamamoto et al. (Sat,) reported a other. Interferon therapy elicited a transient tachycardic response and increased ventricular premature contractions in 2 of 13 patients on the first day of treatment.