Liver lesions remain a pressing issue due to their frequency and the diverse etiology of the diseases. HCV is the primary cause of the development of most diffuse liver diseases, including chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and primary hepatocarcinoma. The vast majority of liver transplants are performed due to the consequences of CHC.

Purpose of the study. Based on a comprehensive dynamic clinical-laboratory and instrumental examination, evaluate the course and prognosis of the disease.

Research materials and methods. Clinical examination was conducted in 58 patients with chronic viral hepatitis C. All patients underwent general clinical and biochemical laboratory studies, including ELISA, PCR, and instrumental research methods.

Statistical processing of the research results was carried out using the "Microsoft Excel" program (version 7.0 for Windows 98 and 2000). The main statistical analysis of the clinical trial results was conducted using the "Statistica for Windows 6.0" program.

Research results. 58 patients with chronic hepatitis C (30.6% women and 69.4% men aged 16 to 65 years) were examined. In 96.7% of patients, antibodies to hepatitis C virus were detected during clinical examination or examination for other diseases. Liver elastography data revealed that out of 58 patients, 15.3% had severe fibrosis (F3+F4) and 7.8% had stage 2 fibrosis. Based on the results of the comparative analysis of clinical and laboratory data, it was concluded that based on the results of the clinical and laboratory examination, it is impossible to make a differential diagnosis of fibrosis stages F1 and F3 CHC.

Conclusions. As a result of studying the nature of liver damage in patients with CHC depending on the duration and biochemical activity of the disease, it was established that among CHC patients with a duration of 1-5 years, the rapid formation of stage 3 liver fibrosis is recorded in 17.9% of cases.