Journal
DIGESTIVE AND LIVER DISEASE
Volume 49, Issue 9, Pages 1029-1035Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.dld.2017.04.012
Keywords
Chronic hepatitis; Elderly; Ribavirin; Sofosbuvir
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Funding
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [15K06810] Funding Source: KAKEN
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Background: The aim of this study was to clarify the effectiveness and safety of sofosbuvir/ribavirin therapy for elderly patients with genotype 2-infected chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in Japan. Methods: A multicenter, retrospective study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of sofosbuvir/ribavirin based on real-world clinical data. Results: The subjects consisted of 270 patients, 47.0% of whom were aged >= 65 years. The sustained virological response rates in patients aged < 65 and >= 65 years were 98.6% and 95.3%, respectively. Hemoglobin levels decreased during treatment due to ribavirin-related hemolysis, and were significantly lower in patients aged > 65 years than those aged < 65 years at all time-points. A reduction in ribavirin dose was necessary in 31.0% (26/84) of patients with hemoglobin levels < 13.0 g/dL and in 70.7% (39/127) of those aged > 65 years. Although the most frequent adverse event was anemia, no patients discontinued the use of either ribavirin or sofosbuvir. The incidence of ribavirin-related anemia in patients aged >= 65 years was 34.6% and significantly higher compared with that in patients aged < 65 years (2.8%). Conclusions: Treatment with sofosbuvir/ribavirin for genotype 2-infected CHC was effective and safe even for elderly patients, although the incidence of adverse events including ribavirin-related anemia was relatively high. (C) 2017 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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