Alcoholic Liver Disease

Alcoholic Liver Disease is a topic covered in the Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics.

To view the entire topic, please or .

The Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics helps you diagnose and treat hundreds of medical conditions. Consult clinical recommendations from a resource that has been trusted on the wards for 50+ years. Explore these free sample topics:

-- The first section of this topic is shown below --

General Principles

  • Alcohol use disorder is a significant medical and socioeconomic problem.
  • Patients may underestimate or minimize their reported alcohol abuse.
  • According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 15.1 million US adults age 18 and older (6.2% of this age group) had alcohol use disorder.
  • The spectrum of alcoholic liver disease includes fatty liver, alcoholic steatohepatitis, severe alcoholic hepatitis, and cirrhosis. Fatty liver is the most common and occurs in up to 90% of alcoholics.
  • Of all excessive alcohol users, between 10% and 20% will develop cirrhosis and 35% will develop alcoholic hepatitis. More than half of the latter will progress to cirrhosis.
  • Alcoholic cirrhosis is a common cause of ESLD and HCC.

-- To view the remaining sections of this topic, please or --

General Principles

  • Alcohol use disorder is a significant medical and socioeconomic problem.
  • Patients may underestimate or minimize their reported alcohol abuse.
  • According to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 15.1 million US adults age 18 and older (6.2% of this age group) had alcohol use disorder.
  • The spectrum of alcoholic liver disease includes fatty liver, alcoholic steatohepatitis, severe alcoholic hepatitis, and cirrhosis. Fatty liver is the most common and occurs in up to 90% of alcoholics.
  • Of all excessive alcohol users, between 10% and 20% will develop cirrhosis and 35% will develop alcoholic hepatitis. More than half of the latter will progress to cirrhosis.
  • Alcoholic cirrhosis is a common cause of ESLD and HCC.

There's more to see -- the rest of this entry is available only to subscribers.