Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 3, 2026

The Motivation for Alcohol Reward: Predictors of Progressive-Ratio Intravenous Alcohol Self-Administration in Humans
Published on: April 28, 2022
Influence of liver biopsy on abstinence in alcohol-dependent patients
Jean-Baptiste Trabut1, Arnaud Plat, Véronique Thepot
1Unité d'Hépatologie-Hôpital Cochin, 27, rue du Faubourg St Jacques, 75014 Paris, France.
Background:
Liver biopsy indication for the evaluation of alcoholic liver disease is controversial. Our aim was to investigate the influence of the biopsy on the patients' motivation for abstinence.
Methods:
We retrospectively analysed, in a population of 324 patients hospitalized for alcohol withdrawal, the impact of liver biopsy on the following clinical outcomes: rapid loss to follow-up (immediately after hospital discharge), early relapse (< 3 months) and long-lasting abstinence (> 12 months). The biopsy was performed in 136 patients who had liver enzymes perturbations. Hepatic lesions were graded as mild (isolated steatosis and/or non-bridging fibrosis), moderate (bridging fibrosis and/or moderate alcoholic hepatitis) or severe (cirrhosis and/or marked alcoholic hepatitis) in 66 (48%), 41 (30%) and 29 (21%) cases, respectively.
Results:
In univariate analysis, patients who had a liver biopsy were less likely to be rapidly lost to follow-up (12% versus 27%, P = 0.003) but had a lower rate of long-term abstinence (20% versus 34%, P = 0.025). In multivariate analysis, age was the only factor significantly associated with clinical outcome: older patients had higher rate of long-term abstinence (OR = 1.041; P = 0.010). Among patients who had a biopsy, those with severe hepatic lesions had a lower rate of rapid relapse than those with moderate or mild lesions (32% versus 68% and 56%, P = 0.018) but the rate of long-term abstinence was similar in the three groups.
Conclusion:
This observational study does not support the notion that liver biopsy has a significant influence on the maintenance of alcohol abstinence in patients with alcoholic liver disease.
Related Concept Videos
Effect of Hepatic Disease on Pharmacokinetics: Pathophysiologic Assessment and Liver Function Test
Effect of Hepatic Disease on Pharmacokinetics: Drug Dosing and Hepatic Blood Flow
Hepatic Drug Excretion: Influencing Factors
Effect of Hepatic Disease on Pharmacokinetics: Dose Adjustments Due to Hepatic Impairment
Effect of Hepatic Disease on Pharmacokinetics: Active Drug, Metabolite and Fraction of Metabolized Drug
Bioavailability Study Design: Healthy Subjects Versus Patients

