Aminopyrine breath test in alcoholic cirrhosis

Aminopyrine breath test was performed in 91 consecutive alcoholic cirrhotic patients in order to evaluate its clinical value in this group of patients. As compared with routine liver biochemical tests, aminopyrine breath test was found to be altered most frequently (93.5% of cases). A one-year follow-up was obtained in 69 patients. The one-year mortality rate was only 11% for values of aminopyrine breath test greater than or equal to 2%, whereas it reached 53.5 for results inferior to 2%. The prognostic value of the test was not, however, different from that of the Child-Turcotte classification.