An unusual adverse effect of interferon: hypertrichosis of the eyelashes.

Hypertrichosis of the eyelashes is a rare adverse effect of interferon-alpha treatment. We present a 21-year-old man with chronic renal failure and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection who developed hypertrichosis of the eyelashes as a complication of IFN-alpha therapy. The patient was a candidate for living related renal transplantation and was given IFN-alpha 15 million units per week for HBV DNA positivity. After 6 months of therapy, HBV DNA positivity 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.