Abstract
A 24-year-old woman with a history of excessive alcohol intake since age 18 was admitted to our hospital with fever and jaundice in June 2011. On admission, laboratory data showed severe bilirubin, AST, ALP, γ-GTP elevations and PT decrease. Abdominal plain CT imaging revealed a significantly enlarged low-density liver. We diagnosed severe alcoholic hepatitis (SAH) based on criteria established by Takada et. al. Although the patient stopped drinking after admission, jaundice rapidly progressed. Subsequent bilirubin absorption therapy and corticosteroid administration showed successful decrease in bilirubin levels and other liver-related laboratory data. Liver density markedly ameliorated in abdominal plain CT taken on day 30, and liver biopsy on day 50 showed ballooning cell, Mallory body and pericellular fibrosis with mild inflammatory infiltrate, consistent with the recovery phase of severe alcoholic hepatitis. This is by far the youngest successfully treated SAH case ever reported in Japan.
