[Impact of antiviral therapy on the natural history of hepatitis C virus]

Abstract

Chronic hepatitis C virus infection affects around 150 million persons, and 350,000 persons worldwide die of this disease each year. Although the data on its natural history are incomplete, after the acute infection, most patients develop chronic forms of hepatitis C with variable stages of fibrosis. In these patients, continual inflammatory activity can cause significant fibrosis, cirrhosis, decompensation of the liver disease, or hepatocarcinoma. In the next few years, it is expected that hepatitis C virus infection and its complications will significantly increase, as will the incidence of hepatocarcinoma in Spain. This review presents the data on the natural history of hepatitis C virus infection and discusses the potential impact of antiviral therapy on the distinct stages of the disease.

Keywords: Historia natural de la infección por virus de la hepatitis C, Impacto del tratamiento en la historia natural del virus de la hepatitis C; Impact of treatment on the natural history of hepatitis C virus; Natural history of hepatitis C virus infection.