An unusual adverse effect of interferon: Hypertrichosis of the eyelashes

Hypertrichosis of the eyelashes is a rare adverse effect of interferon-alph a treatment. We present a 21-year-old man with chronic renal failure and he patitis B virus (HBV) infection who developed hypertrichosis of the eyelash es as a complication of IFN-alpha therapy. The patient was a candidate for living related renal transplantation and was given IFN-alpha 15 million uni ts per week for HBV DNA positivity. After 6 months of therapy, HBV DNA posi tivity persisted, and the dose of IFN was increased to 30 million units per week. At the end of the first half of the second 6 months of therapy, the patient suffered from bilateral hypertrichosis of the eyelashes.