Relationship between degree of portal hypertension and liver histologic lesions in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. Effect of acute alcoholic hepatitis on portal hypertension.

The relationship between the degree of portal hypertension and histologic liver lesions was studied in a group of 84 patients with histologically proven alcoholic cirrhosis. The degree of portal hypertension was evaluated by the gradient between wedged and free hepatic venous pressures. Five histologic lesions were quantified: liver cell necrosis, Mallory bodies, neutrophilic infiltrate, fibrosis, and fatty infiltration. The gradient between wedged and free hepatic venous pressures was significantly correlated with the degree of liver cell necrosis and the degree of neutrophilic infiltrate. The stepwise regression analysis showed that only liver cell necrosis has a significant and independent correlation for the degree of portal hypertension. The value for the gradient between wedged and free hepatic venous pressures was significantly higher in patients with (N = 48) than in those without (N = 36) acute alcoholic hepatitis (19.4 +/- 0.8 and 16.5 +/- 0.7 mmHg, respectively). Thus, histologic liver lesions observed in acute alcoholic hepatitis may play a role in the risk of complications of portal hypertension in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis.