OBJECTIVES : To describe the effectiveness of treatment with antiviral drugs in adult patients diagnosed with chronic infection with hepatitis C virus in Colombia 2016-2017.

METHODS : A longitudinal retrospective study was carried out, describing the follow-up of the totality of a case series of patients with hepatitis C in an ambulatory clinic with medical offices in 14 cities of Colombia. Sociodemographic, clinical, pharmacological, quality of life (SF36) and clinical follow-up variables were analyzed. Statistical significance was considered to be p <0.05.

RESULTS : The mean age was 58.5 years with predominance of females (63.2%), the combination of antivirals used was daclatasvir / asunaprevir in 57.9% and simeprevir / Peg interferon alfa / ribavirin in the remaining. A total of 89.5% of the patients finished the therapy, with a median follow-up of 24 weeks, and of these the whole had complete viral suppression. A statistically significant difference was obtained between viral load at the beginning and week 4 (p = 0.003), and also with the last measurement made in the patients (p = 0.001). Improvements in the quality of life score were observed in most dimensions of the SF36 scale, with no increase in adverse reactions or significant changes in the paraclinics of liver function monitoring.

CONCLUSIONS : Daclatasvir and simeprevir used for chronic infection of hepatitis C virus is an effective therapy to maintain a sustained viral suppressive response at 24 weeks in a series of Colombian patients with chronic infection with the virus.

Keywords: Hepatitis C, Chronic Hepatitis C, Daclatasvir, Simeprevir, Follow-Up Studies.