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Review
. 2023 Jul 14;29(26):4099-4119.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i26.4099.

Impact of COVID-19 in individuals with and without pre-existent digestive disorders with a particular focus on elderly patients

Alfredo Papa  1   2 , Marcello Covino  3   4 , Sara Sofia De Lucia  1 , Angelo Del Gaudio  1 , Marcello Fiorani  1 , Giorgia Polito  1 , Carlo Romano Settanni  5 , Andrea Piccioni  6 , Francesco Franceschi  6   7 , Antonio Gasbarrini  1
Affiliations
Review

Impact of COVID-19 in individuals with and without pre-existent digestive disorders with a particular focus on elderly patients

Alfredo Papa et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has several extrapulmonary symptoms. Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are among the most frequent clinical manifestations of COVID-19, with severe consequences reported in elderly patients. Furthermore, the impact of COVID-19 on patients with pre-existing digestive diseases still needs to be fully elucidated, particularly in the older population. This review aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the GI tract, liver, and pancreas in individuals with and without previous digestive diseases, with a particular focus on the elderly, highlighting the distinctive characteristics observed in this population. Finally, the effectiveness and adverse events of the anti-COVID-19 vaccination in patients with digestive disorders and the peculiarities found in the elderly are discussed.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cirrhosis; Elderly; Inflammatory bowel disease; Liver disease; Pancreatic disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

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