Alcohol abstinence essential even in advanced liver cirrhosis

Complete abstinence from alcohol is considered a cornerstone in the treatment of patients with alcohol-related liver disease. It has not yet been sufficiently researched whether this measure can still improve the prognosis even in the case of advanced liver cirrhosis. Scientists at the Department of Internal Medicine III at MedUni Vienna and AKH Vienna have now provided evidence of the positive effects of alcohol abstinence even at very advanced stages of the disease. The results of their clinical study were recently published in the journal -Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology-. As part of the study, the research team led by Benedikt Hofer and Thomas Reiberger from the Clinical Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Department of Internal Medicine III at MedUni Vienna and AKH Vienna analysed the clinical course of 320 patients with alcohol-related liver cirrhosis. Not only the influence of alcohol abstinence was investigated, but also the effect of portal hypertension. Portal hypertension refers to increased blood pressure in the veins that transport blood from the gastrointestinal tract to the liver, and is - in addition to sustained alcohol consumption - largely responsible for the progression of liver disease. By analysing both factors, the researchers have now, for the first time, gained insights into the effect of alcohol abstinence in advanced liver cirrhosis at different stages of portal hypertension. "Our results clearly show that all patients with alcohol-related liver cirrhosis who maintain sustained abstinence from alcohol not only suffer complications of liver cirrhosis significantly less frequently, but also live considerably longer - even in the case of pronounced portal hypertension," explains the lead author of the study, Benedikt Hofer. Evidence for prognostic relevance