title: Cirrhosis improvement to alcoholic liver fibrosis after passive abstinence.
abstract: We present a rare case of long-term alcoholic liver disease that progressed from alcoholic liver fibrosis to alcoholic liver cirrhosis, and following passive abstinence, the patient's condition then improved to alcoholic liver fibrosis. A 70-year-old Japanese man who had consumed large amounts of alcohol since he was 20 years old received a liver biopsy for evaluation of liver dysfunction at the age of 48 in 1991. The biopsy indicated alcoholic liver fibrosis, stage 2. Eight years later, a second biopsy indicated alcoholic liver cirrhosis. The patient continued to drink until a cerebral haemorrhage in 2000 led to left hemiparesis. Thereafter, he had to accept passive abstinence. He then received follow-up liver biopsies in 2001 and 2002, both of which indicated improvement of the fibrosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, St Marianna University, Miyamae, Kawasaki, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Ryuta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shigefuku
authors.forename: Shiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maeyama
authors.forename: Michihiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D064829:Alcohol Abstinence; D001706:Biopsy; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology*; D008104:Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D012720:Severity of Illness Index