[Hepatic cirrhosis caused by alcohol: normalization of the functional parameters after prolonged abstinence]

It has often been noted that total abstention from alcohol will lead to the normalisation of modest liver lesions. For this reason the possibility of regression of more severe lesions was studied. To this end five patients with clinically diagnosed cirrhosis of the liver (bioptically confirmed in 2 cases) were followed up for a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 5 years, demonstrating the total reversibility of clinical and laboratory signs after total abstention for an average 15 months.