How much does alcohol contribute to the variability of hepatic fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C?
Khan MH, Thomas L, Byth K, Kench J, Weltman M, George J, Liddle C, Farrell GC University of Sydney and Department of Gastroenterology, Westmead Hospital, New South Wales, Australia. In order to determine the contribution of alcohol intake to the severity of hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C, we studied associations between various levels of alcohol intake, other demographic variables and semiquantitative liver histology in 434 cases of chronic hepatitis C. Clinical, demographic and disease-related data were entered into a relational database. Liver histology was scored according to Scheuer. The average daily alcohol intake for the year preceding liver biopsy (recent exposure) and for earlier periods (past exposure) was categorized into five levels of intake. One-third of patients gave a history of alcohol intake that had exceeded 40 g/day for at least 5 years. By univariate analysis, age, but not recent or past alcohol intake or other baseline variables, was associa
