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Alcoholic foamy degeneration in Spain. Prevalence and clinico‐pathological features

1989; Wiley; Volume: 9; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1600-0676.1989.tb00383.x

1600-0676

Santiago Montull, Albert Parés, Miquel Bruguera, Joan Caballería, Toshikazu Uchida, Joan Rodés,

Alcoholism and Thiamine Deficiency

Among 389 consecutive chronic alcoholics in whom a liver biopsy was performed for diagnostic purposes, nine patients (2.3%) had histological changes of “alcoholic foamy degeneration” (AFD), characterized by numerous small fat droplets in the swollen hepatocytes of the centrilobular area. In five cases, there were nonspecific clinical features, while the other four cases presented acute hepatic decompensation with jaundice and a reduced prothrombin activity. Seven patients had high serum lipid concentrations including hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia, which improved after withdrawal of alcohol intake. In conclusion, AFD has a broad clinicopathological spectrum including asymptomatic patients and other cases with severe liver decompensation manifested by jaundice and reduced prothrombin activity. AFD is usually associated with hyperlipemia.