Cirrhotic portal hypertension: morbidity of continued alcoholism.

The morbidity of continued alcoholism was examined among 172 cirrhotic patients participating in controlled trials of portacaval shunts. Of 159 surviving more than 30 days, 76 continued drinking (group A), 68 became abstinent (group B), and 15 (group C) were chronically institutionalized (without potential access to alcohol). The mean number of days in hospital postrandomization and prevalence of bleeding varices, ascites, and encephalopathy were similar for A and B (P greater than 0.05 for each comparison). Jaundice at hospital readmission, however, occurred in 50% of group A but in only 28% of B (P less than 0.01). Mortality and complication rates were substantially greater in C than in A or B, emphasizing the significance of progressive liver disease in institutionalized patients. Although continued alcoholism was associated with recurrent jaundice, a major impact on other criteria of morbidity was not demonstrated.