Clinical and biochemical course of alcoholic liver disease following sudden discontinuation of alcoholic consumption.

It has been our impression that clinical deterioration and worsening of liver tests of patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is common immediately following hospitalization and cessation of ethanol intake. In order to determine the frequency of such deterioration and characterize features which may identify those patients who initially deteriorate, we analyzed the standard liver tests and clinical parameters of liver function following hospitalization of 273 cases of ALD, and correlated these with histologic patterns and hospital course. We found that moderate liver test worsening following hospitalization is frequent in patients with ALD, especially alcoholic hepatitis. The presence of alcoholic hyalin in patients with alcoholic hepatitis did not correlate with liver function or frequency of biochemical worsening, but did correlate with mortality. Biochemical deterioration did not correlate with clinical deterioration or mortality, unless complications such as bleeding, sepsis, or pancreatitis occurred. Spontaneous clinical deterioration of our patients in the absence of precipitating factors was rare. We conclude that worsening of liver tests following hospitalization frequently occurs in patients with ALD, does not necessarily imply presence of complications (e.g., biliary obstruction, sepsis, other liver injury), but should suggest the presence of alcoholic hepatitis.