Acute hepatic failure in alcoholic liver disease

296 patients with first clinical symptoms of alcoholic liver disease were hospitalized in Probationary-Infectious Diseases Department in Kielce, between 1994-2000. In 52 (17.6%) of them, acute hepatic failure was diagnosed by detection of hepatic encephalopathy. Initial laboratory data of those patients who died (6.1%), and those who survived (11.5%) was compared. No statistically significant differences in analyzed parameters were found, except for significantly higher bilirubin concentration in the group of deceased. In both groups of patients, the frequency of hepatic failure complications, present at the admission to the hospital or those developed in the course of the disease, was also analyzed. The following complications were observed significantly more often in deceased: ascites, hepatorenal syndrome (HRS), spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP), and gastrointestinal haemorrhage (GIH), while sepsis was similarly frequent in both groups.