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Introduction: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is an orphan disease, according to the Colombian Ministry of Health. Although there is evidence of studies assessing the cost of PAH in Colombia, update of the cost of illness estimation is necessary. Method: This study's objective was to estimate the annual cost of PAH in Colombia using the Colombian's Health Technology Assessment Agency methodology. Results: Clinical experts and opinion leaders consulted indicated that about 81% of the patients were in a moderate stage of the disease (FC II and III) and that the most frequent therapy is sildenafil in monotherapy or in combination. The average cost of diagnosing the disease in Colombia was US 2, 088. 23 (COP 2, 904, 724. 51), while the average annual treatment cost amounts to US 51, 337. 52 (COP71, 410, 480). Overall, costs and hospital admissions are higher in advanced stages of the disease. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that even though drug therapy in PAH is expensive, administering adequate therapy can lead to an improvement in quality of life, a reduction in disease progression, hospitalizations and need for additional medication; reducing costs associated with the disease. This requires the creation of reference centers, and the dissemination of information about this pathology to health care professionals.
Hernández et al. (Tue,) studied this question.