Though the hepatotoxicity of ethanol has been established, only 8% to 20% of chronic alcoholics develop cir-Between January of 1982 and May of 1995, a total of 2,848 patients rhosis. The aim of this study was to assess whether being were admitted to the Hepatogastroenterology Unit of the Antoine overweight is a risk factor for alcoholic liver disease. Be Β΄cle `re Hospital in Clamart, France, for alcoholism or alcoholic liver One thousand six hundred four alcoholic patients were disease. To be included in the study, patients must have drunk at studied. According to the liver biopsies, 194 patients had least 50 g of alcohol per day over the previous year. We used only a normal liver; 402 had steatosis without fibrosis; 281 the data that were recorded during the first admissions in our unit. presented with fibrosis, with or without steatosis; 119 From these 2,848 patients, 1,244 patients were excluded, including 596 on whom no liver biopsy was performed and for whom cirrhosis presented with acute alcoholic hepatitis (AAH) without was not clinically obvious, and 313 because of missing data. Forty-
cirrhosis; 232 indicated cirrhosis without AAH; and 179
one patients were excluded because of the presence of hepatitis B presented with cirrhosis with AAH. One hundred ninetysurface antigen; 289 were excluded because of the presence of antiseven patients had clinically obvious cirrhosis. In the bodies to hepatitis C virus; and 5 patients were excluded because of study, five variables were studied as risk factors: age, the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen and antibodies to hepati- sex, daily consumption of alcohol during the previous 5 tis C virus. In fact, hepatitis B virus markers were prospectively and years, the total duration of alcohol abuse, and tendency systematically recorded in all patients. Serum antibodies against to be overweight (body mass index [BMI] Β’ 25 in women hepatitis C virus were also assessed in all patients when serum and Β’ 27 in men). The BMI was calculated according to markers for hepatitis C virus infection became available. 5 Hepatitis C virus antibodies were tested retrospectively with a first-genera-the minimum weight over the 10 previous years. In the tion, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay system (Ortho Diagnostic first stepwise logistic regression analysis, age, being