HEPATITIS C VIRUS IN ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LIVER DISEASES

Summary Between January 1993 and July 1994, 141 consecutive patients were recruited, all above 50 years of age, affected by chronic liver diseases (CLD), in order to evaluate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV). The overall prevalence of HCV alone was 50.3 % (71 out of 141 patients) which increased to 70.1 % when considered together with the alcoholism (28 out of 141 patients). Contrastingly, the prevalence of hepatitis B and D virus (HBV and HDV) was low (17 %, 24 patients). Mean age of HCV patients was significantly higher than the mean age of HBV/HDV patients (p