Chronic hepatitis in the geriatric patient.
The incidence and clinical characteristics of chronic hepatitis in the elderly patient over age 61 were studied in 680 biopsied cases from 1978 to 1984. Twenty four cases of chronic hepatitis in the elderly (4% of the total cases and 8% of all chronic hepatitis patients) were detected; the incidence is much lower than liver cirrhosis. Most of these cases (96%) showed active hepatitis. They had a long-term history of liver damage and negative HBsAg and HBeAg tests. Sixty seven percent of the patients showed block formation of the liver surface and low K(ICG) values (an average of 0.12). Twenty three cases are in good performance status 3 years and 3 months following the diagnosis, but ten cases still show marked fluctuation of serum GOT and GPT activities (greater than 60 IU). K(ICG) values in 16 cases improved from 0.12 to 0.14 on average 3 years after the diagnosis, suggesting that these cases might not progress to liver cirrhosis at least in the near future.
Watanabe
A
A
Kobayashi
M
M
Nakatsukasa
H
H
Yamauchi
Y
Y
Hashimoto
M
M
Watanabe
M
M
Fujiware
M
M
Higashi
T
T
Nagashima
H
H
D000368:Aged; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008875:Middle Aged