Severe anaphylaxis with recombinant interferon beta

• DOI: 10.1212/wnl.52.2.425-a
• Publication Date: 2012-05-13T13:38:09Z
• Authors: Teresa Corona; Carolina Leon; Luis Ostrosky-Zei...
• Keywords: Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; Multiple Sclerosis; 0302 clinical medicine; Humans; Female; Interferon-beta; Anaphylaxis; Interferon beta-1a; 3. Good health

Since interferon beta (IFN-β) has been widely used for the treatment of MS, a number of side effects not previously recognized have been reported. The most frequent are cutaneous reactions,1 hyperthyroidism,2 transvaginal bleeding,3 liver carcinoma,4 psoriasis,5 transitory hearing loss,6 polymyositis, and intraocular bleeding. We report a young woman with MS who had been treated with recombinant IFN-β (rIFN-β-1a) for 6 months, presenting a severe anaphylactic reaction after a dose of the drug. A 21-year-old woman presented with optic neuritis at 14 years of age. She then developed right leg weakness with right-sided hyperreflexia and sensory loss. After a few months, she complained of coordination and equilibrium dysfunction. She was evaluated at the Instituto Nacional de Neurologia y Neurocirugia at 18 years of age. Cerebrospinal fluid, electrophysiologic, and magnetic resonance studies were conducted, and the condition was diagnosed as MS of …