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.