Alcoholic Hepatitis: Diagnosis and Management Procedures

Abstract

Over alcoholic consumption for a long-time is the most common cause of alcoholic hepatitis (AH) that has significant short-term and long-term morbidity and mortality due to chronic liver disease. Alcoholic hepatitis is the most elaborate indicator of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). It is a devastating acute condition of the disease that needs early detection, diagnosis, and proper treatment. It is characterized by inflammation, fibrosis, and ultimately cirrhosis for the continual excessive drinking. It is an acute hepatic inflammation associated with an injury of the liver with the clinical syndrome of acute jaundice and coagulopathy. If it is not treated appropriately, may transform to life-threatening acute liver failure, such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver cirrhosis. Complete alcohol abstinence is the cornerstone therapy for AH to decrease short-term mortality and most of the patients recover for at least six months after abstinence. This review paper tries to discuss the diagnosis and treatment procedures of the AH in brief for the benefit of the patients.