High 10-year mortality in alcohol-related liver disease: where do we go from here?

High rates of alcohol-related liver disease have been reported worldwide, and some of the highest rates in the world are in western Europe. Short-term mortality risk has been described, with a 1-year mortality rate of 25–30%,1,2 yet less is known about longer term mortality risk and, notably, precisely which conditions cause mortality in patients with alcohol-related liver disease over a longer 5–10 year time horizon. Previous studies have reported 5-year mortality risk to be as high as 41% in those with biopsy-proven alcohol-related liver disease, but longer-term mortality has not been evaluated.