Low alcohol consumption influences outcomes in individuals with alcohol-related compensated cirrhosis in a French multicenter cohort

International audience; Background and aims: The harmful impact of heavy alcohol recurrence has been confirmed in patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis although this is based on old studies. The drivers of long-term outcome still need to be clearly investigated.Method: All patients with biopsy-proven compensated alcohol-related cirrhosis included in the CIRRAL cohort (22 centers) were prospectively studied. Prognostic variables of survival and liver event-free survival were assessed using multivariable Cox models with stepwise selection. The prognostic impact of alcohol recurrence during follow-up (computed in glasses-years in the same way as pack-years for tobacco) was assessed using a time-dependent covariable.Results: From 2010 to 2016, 650 patients were included. The median age at baseline was 58.4 years old, 67.4% were men and the median BMI was 27.8 kg/m2, 63.8% had a history of liver decompensation, and 70.2% had discontinued alcohol. At 5 years, 30.9% of abstinent patients developed recurrence and this risk was higher in patients with a history of drug abuse and in those with shorter alcohol discontinuation times. Median survival was 97 months. Age, alcohol consumption at baseline, platelet count and Child-Pugh score >5 were associated with overall and liver event-free survival on multivariate analysis. Alcohol consumption during follow-up of more than 25 glasses-year was independently associated with lower survival and with a trend toward significant liver event-free survival, but the risk increased from 1 glass-year, though not significantly. Simon & Makuch plots confirm the benefit of no alcohol consumption (