Prevalence of markers of hepatotrophic viruses in alcoholics with symptomatic liver cirrhosis or pancreatitis.

The reason why similar amounts of alcohol consumption cause different types of organ damage in alcoholics is obscure. Recent studies indicate that hepatitis B virus infection may influence the development of liver cirrhosis in alcoholics. We investigated the prevalence of markers of viruses known to cause hepatitis (HAV, HBV, EBV, CMV) in two groups of patients, one with alcoholic pancreatitis without known liver cirrhosis and one with alcoholic liver cirrhosis without known pancreatitis. We found signs of past infection with HAV and HBV more often in alcoholics with liver cirrhosis than in patients with alcoholic pancreatitis or in age-matched controls.