To the Editor: Recombinant interferon beta-1b (Betaseron) waslicensed in 1993 to reduce exacerbations of multiple sclerosis.Approval of the drug was greeted enthusiastically, despite amodest 30 percent reduction in relapses and side effects thatinclude local inflammatory reactions and a flulike syndrome.1We report the occurrence of severe necrotizing cutaneous reactionsin a 38-year-old woman with an eight-year history of multiplesclerosis. She self-injected the standard dose of recombinantinterferon beta-1b (9 million units) subcutaneously on alternatedays.
Erythematous patches appeared at the injection sites on boththighs during the third month of treatment. These areas becameviolaceous, . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Koontz, D., Alshekhlee, A.
(2007). Letter to the Editor: Embolia cutis medicamentosa following interferon beta injection. Mult Scler
13: 1203-1204
Casoni, F., Merelli, E., Bedin, R., Martella, A., Cesinaro, A., Bertolotto, A.
(2003). Necrotizing skin lesions and NA Bs development in a multiple sclerosis patient treated with IFN{beta} 1b. Mult Scler
9: 420-423
[Abstract]
CREANGE, A., LEFAUCHEUR, J.-P.
(2000). Focal neuropathy associated with cutaneous necrosis at the site of interferon-beta injection for multiple sclerosis. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry
68: 395-395
[Full Text]
RADZIWILL, A. J, COURVOISIER, S.
(1999). Severe necrotising cutaneous lesions complicating treatment with interferon beta -1a. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry
67: 115-115
[Full Text]
Gaines, A. R., Varricchio, F.
(1998). Interferon beta-1b injection site reactions and necroses. Mult Scler
4: 70-73
[Abstract]
Noseworthy, J. H
(1996). Interferon {beta}-1b: latest published results, 1995. Mult Scler
1: 313-316
[Abstract]
Shinohara, K., Trautinger, F., Knobler, R. M., Sheremata, W. A., Taylor, J. R., Elgart, G. W.
(1995). More on Interferon-Induced Cutaneous Necrosis. NEJM
333: 1222-1224
[Full Text]