[Liver damage in chronic alcoholics with and without delirium tremens (author's transl)]

371 males admitted to a special hospital for withdrawal treatment of alcoholics were investigated on admission and repeatedly controlled during a follow-up of 3-6 months. In only 15% of all patients without delirium tremens there were no signs of liver disease on admission. 62% showed evidence of moderate or severe liver disease. 2-6 months after admission the percentage with moderate or severe liver disease had decreased (26%) while normal findings were obtained in 49%. On admission no correlation between frequency or degree of liver damage and the duration of alcohol abuse or daily intake of alcohol was demonstrated. Following abstinence of 2 months or more incidence of severe liver changes was nearly unchanged (16%) in patients drinking for more than 20 years, while it dropped distinctly in the groups with shorter duration of abuse (abuse less than 10 years: 5%). Histological alterations were distinctly more frequent in patients with abuse of more than 15 years (pronounced fibrosis 26%, cirrhosis 20%), as compared to alcoholics who drank less than 15 years (5 and 9%, respectively). In the patients with delirium tremens signs of severe liver disease were more frequent than in those without delirium. The trend towards normalisation of liver function tests was less in the former than in the latter (marked pathological findings following 2 months of alcohol abstinence in alcoholics with delirium tremens: duration of alcoholism less than 10 years: 16%; 11-20 years: 33%).