Abstract
A nationwide survey of liver cirrhosis (LC) was undertaken by asking major hospitals in Japan to provide information on the number of patients with LC admitted in 2012 along with information related to etiology including alcohol history. Etiological agents were as follows: hepatitis B virus (10.5%), hepatitis C virus (47.1%), and alcohol (24.6%). Of LC cases, 30.6% were alcohol-related (ethanol intake >60 g/day). Among alcoholic LC (Al-LC) patients, mean age was older in the present study in 2012 compared with the data for 2007-2008. Our survey revealed that the prevalence of Al-LC has been rapidly increasing in Japan. Moreover, age was identified as risk factors for development of Al-LC.
