Decompensation of chronic stable alcoholic liver disease by severe exfoliative dermatitis.

Of the numerous precipitants of hepatic decompensation in chronic liver disease, there are no reports in the literature documenting an acute decompensation following an acute episode of severe dermatitis. This case highlights the haemodynamic consequences of a severe flare up of exfoliative dermatitis in a patient with stable chronic alcoholic liver disease, speculates on the mechanism by which this may provoke clinical decompensation and the impact this may have upon liver failure.