Varices recurred in 78 patients and rebled in 45 of these patients. Median follow-up was 32.3 months (mean, 42.1 months; range, 3–198.9 months). Cumulative overall survival by life-table analysis was 67%, 42%, and 26% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively.

Avoid aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), and naproxen (Aleve). These can cause sores in your stomach or esophagus. Do not drink alcohol. It increases your risk of bleeding.

Once varices develop, they can remain stable, increase in size (if the liver disease worsens), or decrease in size (if the liver disease improves). Esophageal varices are a potentially serious complication of cirrhosis.

You may need to eat foods that reduce stomach acid. Stomach acid can get into your esophagus and cause the varices to break open and bleed. Limit sodium (salt). You may need to decrease the amount of sodium you eat if you have swelling caused by fluid buildup.

Esophageal varices may leak blood and eventually rupture. This can lead to severe bleeding and life-threatening complications, including death. When this happens, it’s a medical emergency. Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room right away if you’re showing symptoms of bleeding esophageal varices.

Bleeding esophageal varices is life-threatening condition and can be fatal in up to 50% of patients. People who have had an episode of bleeding esophageal varices are at risk for bleeding again. Treatment with variceal ligation is effective in controlling first-time bleeding episodes in about 90% of patients.

Cirrhosis can be divided into 4 stages: stage 1, no varices, no ascites; stage 2, varices without ascites and without bleeding; stage 3, ascites+/-varices; stage 4, bleeding+/-ascites.

PROGNOSIS: Your recovery depends on the type of cirrhosis you have and if you stop drinking. Only 50% of people with severe alcoholic cirrhosis survive 2 years, and only 35% survive 5 years. Recovery rate worsens after the onset of complications (such as gastrointestinal bleeding, ascites, encephalopathy).

Cirrhosis has become irreversible. Diagnosed at stage 3, the 1-year survival rate is 80%. It’s during stage 3 that a liver transplant may be recommended. There’s always a risk a person’s body will reject the transplant, but if accepted, 80% of transplant patients survive more than 5 years past their operation.

Some alcohol-related liver damage can be reversed if you stop drinking alcohol early enough in the disease process. Healing can begin as early as a few days to weeks after you stop drinking, but if the damage is severe, healing can take several months.

It’s generally not reversible, but stopping drinking alcohol immediately can prevent further damage and significantly increase your life expectancy. A person who has alcohol-related cirrhosis and does not stop drinking has a less than 50% chance of living for at least 5 more years.

It may take 10-30 years for cirrhosis to develop. Liver cirrhosis is one of the leading causes of death in the US and chronic alcoholism is one of the main leading causes of cirrhosis.

With severe alcoholic hepatitis, the mortality rate at 6 months, even with corticosteroid treatment, is approximately 40%. Although many patients continue to have ascites and evidence of significant liver disease (low albumin, prolonged prothrombin time), some patients show a dramatic improvement.