Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of chronic hepatitis C virus infection in elderly patients

Abstract

Introduction. Chronic hepatitis C virus infection in elderly people has not been widely studied although an increase in the prevalence of this disease in the older population is expected. Material and Methods. This work presents the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of chronic hepatitis C in 153 patients aged 65 years and older who were treated at the Department of Infectious Diseases, Clinical Center of Vojvodina in Novi Sad. Results. Hepatitis C virus infection is slightly more prevalent in women - 55.55%; it is usually discovered accidentally during other examinations and is usually acquired after blood transfusion - 42.48% of cases. The average duration of infection was 28.48 years, the most common infection was caused by genotype 1 of the hepatitis C virus and histopathological examinations of liver biopsy usually revealed severe fibrosis and cirrhosis - 72.22% of cases. The success of the antiviral therapy applied in 16 patients was 62.50%. Conclusion. Antiviral therapy in elderly people is rarely used, but the success of 62.50% in our sample justifies the treatment of patients despite their age and comorbidities.