Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and aging: Epidemiology to management

Table 3 Selected cohort studies of geriatric patients[3,50,51]

Kagansky et al[50], 2004	In this prospective study, 91 octogenarians who were admitted to the rehabilitation departments of a geriatric hospital were compared to 46 NAFLD young patients	NAFLD is a common and benign finding in the elderly population, in whom it is not associated with the metabolic syndrome
Frith et al[3], 2009	In this retrospective, cohort study set in a tertiary liver clinic in United Kingdom. Three hundred and fifty one consecutive biopsy-proven NAFLD patients were divided into an older (≥ 60), a middle-aged (≥ 50 to < 60) and a younger (< 50) group	NAFLD affects mainly the middle-aged and the elderly. Older patients show more risk factors and more severe laboratori alterations and histological changes, with cirrhotics having a significantly more advanced age than those with milder disease
Noureddin et al[51], 2013	A cross-sectional analysis of adult participants who were prospectively enrolled in the NASH Clinical Research Network studies. Participants were included based on availability of the centrally reviewed liver histology data within 1 year of enrollment, resulting in 61 elderly (age ≥ 65 yr) and 735 nonelderly (18-64 yr) participants	The main outcomes were the presence of NASH and advanced fibrosis. Compared to nonelderly patients with NAFLD, elderly patients had a higher prevalence of NASH (56% vs 72%, P = 0.02), and advanced fibrosis (25% vs 44%, P = 0.002). Compared to nonelderly patients with NASH, elderly patients with NASH had higher rates of advanced fibrosis (35% vs 52%, P = 0.03), as well as other features of severe liver disease including the presence of ballooning degeneration, acidophil bodies, megamitochondria, and Mallory-Denk bodies (P ≤ 0.05 for each)

NAFLD: Non alcoholic fatty liver disease; NASH: Non alcoholic steatohepatitis.