Liver-related events and mortality among elderly patients with advanced chronic hepatitis C treated with direct-acting antivirals.

• Main Authors: Iria Rodríguez-Osorio, Alvaro Mena, Héctor Meijide, Luis Morano, Manuel Delgado, Purificación Cid, Luis Margusino, José Domingo Pedreira, Ángeles Castro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2019-01-01
• Series: PLoS ONE
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217052

<h4>Background</h4>Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) are effective in patients aged ≥65 years. However, little is known about the effects of DAAs on survival, liver decompensation and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).<h4>Objective</h4>To compare the incidence of liver-related events and mortality between patients aged ≥65 and <65 years.<h4>Methods</h4>Prospective study comparing patients aged ≥65 and <65 years treated with DAAs. The incidence of liver-related events and mortality, and HCC was compared between age groups.<h4>Results</h4>Five hundred patients (120 aged ≥65 and 380 aged <65 years) were included. The incidence of liver-related events was 2.62 per 100 patient-years (py) in older and 1.41/100 py in younger patients. All-cause mortality was 3.89 and 1.27/100 py in older and younger patients, respectively. The respective liver-related mortality rates were 1.12 and 0.31/100 py. In patients with cirrhosis (stage F4), all-cause mortality (P = 0.283) and liver-related mortality (P = 0.254) did not differ between groups. All five liver-related deaths were related to multifocal HCC. The incidence of HCC was 1.91 and 1.43 per 100 py in the older and younger groups, respectively (P = 0.747). The diagnosis of HCC was 8 months after the end of treatment.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The incidence of liver-related events and liver-related mortality was low in older people treated with DAAs and was similar to that in younger patients. The extra mortality in people aged ≥65 years treated with DAAs seems to be secondary to non-liver-related causes. These results support the utilization of DAAs in patients aged ≥65 years.