Liver transplantation in patients with chronic hepatitis C and alcoholism.
We evaluated the contribution of alcohol abuse to liver failure among patients undergoing liver transplantation by reviewing their records for alcohol consumption, hepatitis serology, and outcome. Anti-HCV was present in the serum of 42 patients (39%), while 35 had consumed more than 80 g/day of alcohol for at least 10 years, allowing patients to be divided into four groups: group I, hepatitis C alone (N = 31); group II, alcoholic liver disease alone (N = 24); group III, both hepatitis C and alcoholism (N = 11); and group IV, liver failure due to other causes (N = 41). Patients were followed for a mean of 29 months after transplantation (range 0-66). Twenty-eight (26%) died during follow up, while 11 (10%) required retransplantation. There were no other significant differences in patient or graft survival among patients in the four groups. Patients with both alcoholism and chronic hepatitis C comprise a large proportion of those undergoing liver transplantation and appear to do as well as those with other causes of liver failure, at least in the short term.
Dhar
S
S
Department of Internal Medicine and Surgery, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Missouri 63104, USA.
Omran
L
L
Bacon
B R
BR
Solomon
H
H
Di Bisceglie
A M
AM
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006085:Graft Survival; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008108:Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D017093:Liver Failure / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012086:Reoperation; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome