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SUBCLINICAL ACUTE LIVER DISEASE OF THE ALCOHOLIC
Author(s) -
GREEN JEREMY R.
Publication year - 1965
Publication title -
australasian annals of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 0571-9283
DOI - 10.1111/imj.1965.14.2.111
Subject(s) - alcoholic hepatitis , medicine , subclinical infection , fatty liver , alcoholic liver disease , hepatitis , liver function tests , gastroenterology , liver biopsy , liver disease , disease , alcoholic fatty liver , acute hepatitis , liver function , pathology , biopsy , cirrhosis
Summary A group of alcoholics, admitted to hospital for reasons other than liver disease, were studied in order to determine the presence and nature of any acute liver damage due to their drinking. The only clinical evidence to suggest liver disease was the finding, in some cases, of a palpable and occasionally tender liver. On the basis of the histological findings in the liver, the patients were separated into three groups—those with essentially normal livers, those with simple fatty livers, and those with acute alcoholic hepatitis. There were no clinical features to suggest to which of the three groups the patient belonged, except that liver enlargement greater than 5 cm. indicated liver disease. The results of liver function tests, although always abnormal in the patients with acute alcoholic hepatitis, were not helpful in the individual case. Previously reported studies are compared, and the usual clinical and biochemical findings of the groups are outlined. The importance of recognizing patients with fatty liver and acute alcoholic hepatitis is discussed, together with the therapeutic implications. It is considered that liver biopsy is a desirable part of the investigation of alcoholics if the natural history of liver disease in the alcoholic is to be understood, and if the more serious irreversible changes are to be prevented.