Clinical characteristics of autoimmune hepatitis in older aged patients.
OBJECTIVE
Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is an inflammatory disease of the liver that usually develops in middle-aged women. However, due to the increasing aging of the population and better diagnostic facilities, AIH is now diagnosed in older patients as well. This analysis compared the clinical and pathologic characteristics of older and middle-aged patients with AIH.


METHODS
Thirteen older patients with AIH (mean age, 75.0+/-5.3 years; range, 70-89 years) and 27 middle-aged patients (mean age, 51.3+/-5.8 years; range, 41-60 years) were included in this study. In addition, the use of different treatment regimens, including prednisolone therapy and ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), was examined.


RESULTS
There were no significant differences in gender, complications of other autoimmune diseases, and liver function tests between groups. However, the degree of hepatic fibrosis was significantly higher in older patients compared with middle-aged patients (P<0.05). Four patients with AIH in the older age group were successfully managed by UDCA alone.


CONCLUSIONS
This study shows that older patients with abnormal liver function should be checked for AIH. In addition, UDCA may be an effective drug for management of older patients with AIH.
Miyake
Teruki
T
Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital of Saiseikai, Matsuyama, 880-2 Yamanishi-cho, Matsuyama, Ehime 791-8026, Japan.
Miyaoka
Hiroaki
H
Abe
Masanori
M
Furukawa
Shinya
S
Shigematsu
Shuichiro
S
Furukawa
Eri
E
Ikeda
Rie
R
Okita
Shunnji
S
Okada
Takeshi
T
Yoshida
Osamu
O
Murata
Yosuke
Y
Akbar
Sk Md Fazle
SM
Matsuura
Bunzo
B
Michitaka
Kojiro
K
Horiike
Norio
N
Hiasa
Yoichi
Y
Onji
Morikazu
M