title: Clinical features in different age groups of patients with autoimmune hepatitis.
abstract: The Chinese population are at an increased risk of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). The aims of this study were to determine the demographic and clinical features of AIH in China. A total of 83 patients with AIH diagnosed by the revised scoring system were re-analyzed, and the clinical presentations among the different ages were compared. The patients were classified according to age at presentation. AIH occurred in patients aged ≤30 years (9.6%), 31-39 years (10.8%), 40-49 years (16.9%), 50-59 years (31.3%) and ≥60 years (31.3%). There were no differences in the form of the clinical presentation, concurrent autoimmune diseases, cirrhosis distribution and autoantibodies among the groups. However, patients aged ≥60 years presented with higher levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GT) compared with patients aged ≤30 years (P=0.034, P=0.043, respectively), and patients aged 31-39 years had a significantly lower immunoglobulin G (IgG) level compared with those aged 50-59 years (P=0.049) and those aged ≥60 years (P=0.012). By contrast, patients aged ≤30 years had a significantly higher total bilirubin (TBIL) level compared with those aged 31-39 years (P=0.007), 50-59 years (P=0.002) and ≥60 years (P=0.013). A substantial portion of patients with AIH were aged >60 years, indicating a poor liver-associated outcome under current management strategies. Elderly patients appeared to be more asymptomatic compared with the younger patients.
authors.affiliation: Center of Liver Diseases, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Milin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Center of Liver Diseases, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Center of Liver Diseases, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Center of Liver Diseases, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yongfang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Center of Liver Diseases, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Center of Liver Diseases, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Center of Liver Diseases, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Center of Liver Diseases, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Guozhong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gong
keywords: China; autoimmune hepatitis; clinical presentation; concurrent autoimmune diseases