Characteristics of chronic hepatitis C in the elderly and the progress of antiviral therapy / 中华临床感染病杂志

ABSTRACT

Elderly patients have become a special concern in the management of hepatitis C .Their HCV exposure time is long and the risk of liver disease and extrahepatic complications is high .With the advent of direct antiviral drugs (DAA), the treatment of chronic hepatitis C has been significantly improved , and the cure rate of virology can be more than 90% in the elderly patients , with a high safety.However, elderly patients often have more underlying diseases and the drug use will be more complicated , resulting in drug interaction ( DDI) and increasing the challenge of treatment management.This article reviews the requirements for comprehensive evaluation of elderly patients before DAA treatment , including liver and kidney function, combined drug use and potential DDI.The monitoring of adverse events and DDI , and the countermeasures are also discussed in the article.