Ultrasound findings of liver damage in a series of patients consecutively admitted for treatment of alcohol use disorder

Abstract Background To analyze ultrasound findings of liver damage in alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients. Methods A cross-sectional analysis of detoxification patients. Clinical and laboratory parameters were obtained at admission. Analytical liver injury (ALI) was defined as at least two of the following: aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels ≥74  2, and total bilirubin >1.2 mg/dL. Advanced liver fibrosis (ALF) was defined as a FIB-4 score ≥3.25. Abdominal ultrasound was used to identify steatosis, hepatomegaly, heterogeneous liver, and portal hypertension. Predictors of these findings were determined by logistic regression. Results We included 301 patients (80% male) with a median age of 46 years (IQR: 39–51 years) and alcohol consumption of 180 g/day (IQR: 120–201 g). The prevalence of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) was 21.2%; AST and ALT serum levels were 42 U/L (IQR: 23–78 U/L) and 35 U/L (IQR: 19–60 U/L), respectively; 16% of patients had ALI and 24% ALF. Ultrasound findings were: 57.2% steatosis, 49.5% hepatomegaly, 17% heterogeneous liver, and 16% portal hypertension; 77% had at least one ultrasound abnormality, and 45% had ≥2. HCV infection was associated with heterogeneous liver (p = 0.046) and portal hypertension (p  Conclusions Ultrasound findings of liver damage may facilitate clinical decisions and alcohol cessation in AUD patients.