Serum ethanol estimations in the control of alcohol abstinence in patients with liver disease.

Eighty-eight patients with a non-alcoholic and 105 patients with an alcoholic liver disease were warned against alcohol consumption. On three consecutive ambulatory visits, serum ethanol was measured and compared with patients' admission of alcohol intake. None in the non-alcoholic group had a positive serum ethanol test, whereas 60 samples from 40 patients with alcoholic liver disease were positive. The serum ethanol values were higher in women than in men. Continuation of drinking was unrelated to sex, age, or type of alcoholic liver disease. Twenty-seven of the 40 patients with ethanol in serum denied alcohol consumption. The reliability of the patients was unrelated to sex, age, or type of alcoholic liver disease. Serum ethanol was more valuable than aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, and coagulation factors in pointing out the patients who continued drinking.