Liver disease among Polish alcoholics. Contribution of chronic active hepatitis to liver pathology.

A group of 70 chronic alcoholics--65 men and 6 women--has been studied. HBsAg was found in 11 (16%), and at least one marker of HBV infection was present in sera from 31 (44%) persons, these results being significantly higher than in a matched control population. The commonest single histological patterns were: steatosis (18 cases), and alcoholic hepatitis (18 cases), followed by normal liver (14 cases) and chronic active hepatitis (12 cases). Cirrhosis was diagnosed in only 4 cases. Five cases of chronic active hepatitis could be attributed to infection with HBV or HDV; in the remaining 7 cases the etiology was unclear. Infection with HBV seems to play an important role as the cause of liver disease among alcoholics in Poland, and chronic active hepatitis of various etiology may be an important form of liver pathology among them.