A prognostic evaluation and management of alcoholic hepatitis

Alcoholic hepatitis is an acute and severe form of alcoholic liver disease associated with high morbidity and mortality of 30-50% worldwide, severity ranging from asymptomatic derangement of liver biochemistries to fulminant liver failure or death. Rapidly progressing jaundice and coagulopathy in prolonged excessive alcohol abusers with or without fever, malnutrition, and tender liver are the clinical hallmarks. The prognostic models (MELD, MDF, ABIC, GAHS, Lille's score) not only predict the short term mortality, but also guide the clinicians to choose appropriate specific therapy (corticosteroid or pentoxifylline) and as a stopping rule if there is no significant benefits of it. MDF score is commonly followed in clinical practice, score of >32 would predict short term mortality of around 20-30% at 1 month and 30-40% within 6 months after presentation. The GAHS on day 1 can predict 28 day overall survival outcome accuracy of 81%, which is comparatively higher than MDF score....