Bacterial infection is a common complication in patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis

Background: Alcoholic hepatitis (AH) has a poor short-term prognosis. Although these patients are at high risk of infection, data about sites of infection, pathogen spectrum and effective treatment strategies is lacking. Methods: 41 cases of severe alcoholic hepatitis (MELD > 20), admitted to the Hepatology Unit of the Hamburg University Medical Center between 2010 and 2014, were analyzed retrospectively by chart review with special focus on demographic, clinical and microbial data as well as treatment outcome. Results: 39 of 41 patients (95%) received treatment of corticosteroids, whereof 41% (n= 16 of 39) were…