[Development of porphyria cutanea tarda in a chronic hepatitis C patient with indetectable viremia under treatment with peg-interferon plus ribavirin].

Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) is considered an extra-hepatic manifestation of HCV infection. The frequency of this association varies according to different authors and the mechanism by which the virus can trigger this disease is not yet clear. We present a 47-year-old-man with chronic hepatitis C genotype 1b who, during the treatment with peg-interferón alfa 2b plus ribavirina, with no detectable viremia at weeks 12th, 24th, and 48th, developed dermatological photosensitive lesions at week 44th. With a presumptive diagnosis of PCT a cutaneous/skin biopsy was performed as well as a porphyrin dosage with urine porphyirins of 4185 microg/24 hs (nv<250). The chromatographic analysis revealed the typical PCT pattern thus confirming the diagnosis. The hemochromatosis HFE gen evaluation showed heterozigotus character mutations (H63D and C282Y) a frequent association in patients with iron overload and PCT. The antiviral treatment of the HCV infection can improve the clinical-humoral manifestations of PCT. The novo occurrence of PCT was recently reported during chronic hepatitis C treatment with interferón and ribavirin, but no cases of late appearance of PCT in patients with no detectable viremia were reported. The mutation of the gen HFE in our patient and the hemolysis caused by ribavirin can be related to the development of the disease, but the iron overload because of ribavirin use is also controversial. This is another example of the complexity of this association.