Cirrhosis as an independent risk factor for colonic adenomas

This study aimed to determine the relation between cirrhosis and colorectal adenomatous polyps after adjustment for alcoholism and other confounding variables. Four groups of patients aged 40 years or above were studied. Group I included 100 consecutive outpatients with irritable bowel syndrome, group II 100 consecutive alcoholic inpatients without cirrhosis, group III 100 consecutive inpatients with alcoholic cirrhosis, and group IV included 36 consecutive inpatients with non-alcoholic cirrhosis. All patients underwent colonoscopy. The prevalence of adenomatous polyps was 13% in group I, 26% in group II, 58% in group III, and 22% in group IV (p less than 0.001). The prevalence of adenomatous polyps was greater in patients with cirrhosis than in those patients without (48.5% v 19.5%). This difference remained significant after successive adjustment for alcoholism, sex, age, smoking, and serum cholesterol. The prevalence of adenomatous polyps was greater in alcoholic patients than in non-alcoholic patients (42% v 15.4%) (p less than 0.001). This difference remained significant after successive adjustment for cirrhosis, sex, age, smoking, and serum cholesterol. These results suggest that cirrhosis is an independent risk factor for colorectal adenomatous polyps and confirm that alcoholism increases this risk.