Bone marrow failure and hematological abnormalities in alcoholic liver cirrhosis.

Long term alcohol abuse may result in bone marrow damage and hematologic abnormalities. In the study we evaluated bone marrow and peripheral blood changes in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. Although majority of the patients (91%) presented with hematologic abnormalities such as leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, low hemoglobin level, only mild alterations in bone marrow were observed. The hematopoietic tissue was of high cellularity with features of activation and moderate myelofibrosis.