Clinical Chemistry, Vol 37, 5-13, Copyright © 1991 by American Association for Clinical Chemistry

Monitoring treatment of alcoholic liver disease: evaluation of various severity indices

J Blake and H Orrego
Addiction Research Foundation, Clinical Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Monitoring the effectiveness of treatment sfor alcoholic liver disease involves the use of variables that have prognostic significance and are unaffected by the treatment in unspecific ways. Here we review the value of histological and functional variables for this purpose. We conclude that histological variables, although important in defining the characteristics of the sample, have several practical problems. The functional variables are most effective when used in combinations, e.g., in global indices such as the Combined Clinical and Laboratory Index, the Child-Turcotte-Pugh Index, or the Cox model. In situations involving mortality and dropouts, functional indices cannot be used to measure changes in severity; in such cases, mortality might be the only measure for assessing the effectiveness of a treatment. In clinical trials, it is essential to determine the risk of a Type II error, to monitor compliance and drinking, and to trace appropriately all the patients who were not compliant or who dropped out of the trial.

The following articles in journals at HighWire Press have cited this article:

				J. HIETALA, H. KOIVISTO, P. ANTTILA, and O. NIEMELA COMPARISON OF THE COMBINED MARKER GGT-CDT AND THE CONVENTIONAL LABORATORY MARKERS OF ALCOHOL ABUSE IN HEAVY DRINKERS, MODERATE DRINKERS AND ABSTAINERS Alcohol Alcohol., September 1, 2006; 41(5): 528 - 533. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Anttila, K. Jarvi, J. Latvala, J. E. Blake, and O. Niemela DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF DIFFERENT CARBOHYDRATE-DEFICIENT TRANSFERRIN METHODS IN THE DETECTION OF PROBLEM DRINKING: EFFECTS OF LIVER DISEASE AND ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION Alcohol Alcohol., September 1, 2003; 38(5): 415 - 420. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]