Acta clinica Croatica, Vol. 57. No. 1., 2018.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.20471/acc.2018.57.01.07
Treatment of Elderly Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Neven Papić
; Department for Viral Hepatitis, Dr. Fran Mihaljević University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia; School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Jelena Budimir
; Department for Viral Hepatitis, Dr. Fran Mihaljević University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia
Ivan Kurelac
; Department for Viral Hepatitis, Dr. Fran Mihaljević University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia
Davorka Dušek
; Department for Viral Hepatitis, Dr. Fran Mihaljević University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia; School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Davor Jugović
; School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Nina Krajcar
; Department for Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Dr. Fran Mihaljević University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia
Adriana Vince
; Department for Viral Hepatitis, Dr. Fran Mihaljević University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia; School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The prevalence of chronic hepatitis C increases in elderly patients. The aims of this study were to identify the factors associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and end-stage liver disease development and to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFNα) plus ribavirin (RBV) therapy in elderly patients. A retrospective cohort study included all consecutive patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection treated with PEG-IFNα+RBV between 2003 and 2013. Elderly patients had a higher frequency of poor prognostic factors including genotype 1 infection, high fibrosis, and high fibrosis index based on four factors (FIB-4) score. The sustained virologic response (SVR) rate for genotype 1 was significantly lower (35.8% vs. 57.1%), while the frequency of PEG-IFNα (27.2% vs. 7.8%), RBV dose reduction (19.6% vs. 9.7%) and treatment discontinuation (13.0% vs. 4.1%) was significantly higher in elderly patients. However, age was not associated with SVR in multivariate analysis, and comparable SVR rates were achieved when adjusted for fibrosis score (Ishak ≤3: 66.7% vs. 69.8%). During the follow-up, HCC was diagnosed in 18 elderly patients (3 SVR+, 4 SVR- and 9 untreated patients). In conclusion, selected elderly patients can achieve comparable SVR rates as younger patients, but with a higher rate of side effects. Since complications of HCV infection occur more frequently in elderly patients, they should be given priority for antiviral therapy.
Keywords
Hepatitis C, chronic – treatment; End stage liver disease; Aged; Hepatitis C – prognosis; Pe-gylated interferon alpha; Immunotherapy
Hrčak ID:
201662
URI
Publication date:
1.3.2018.
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