TITLE:
Dysexecutive Performance of Elderly Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection
AUTHORS:
Tomader Taha Abdel Rahman, Marwa Abdel Azeem Abdel Guaad, Ahmad Kamel Mortagy
KEYWORDS:
Elderly, Executive Functions, HCV
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Aging Research,
Vol.3 No.4,
August
29,
2014
ABSTRACT:
Chronic infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the most
important causes of chronic liver disease, which can progress to cirrhosis and
hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It is well established that advanced forms of
the disease are accompanied by overt and global cognitive deficits (hepatic
encephalopathy) but now there is a growing evidence that the alterations in
cerebral function in patients with chronic HCV infection may appear long before
the development of severe liver cirrhosis, it has been hypothesized that it is
related to a direct effect of HCV on the brain; or the neurotoxic effect of
HCV-related systemic inflammation. The purpose of the study was to assess the
possible existence of executive dysfunction in chronic HCV infected patients.
One hundred elderly patients aged 60 years and above agreed to participate in
this study; 50 patients were HCV positive (cases) and 50 patients were HCV
negative (controls). All participants were subjected to the following:
diagnosis of HCV by detection of HCV antibodies using ELISA technique,
non-invasive assessment of liver condition, and evaluation of executive
functions using 5 neuropsychological tests. The study showed that there was a
significant difference between cases and controls regarding 2 executive
function tests related to the phonological loop component of working memory
among HCV positive patients. The study concluded that chronic HCV infection is
accompanied by dysexecutive performance.