Prothrombin Time Predicts Steroid Response in Severe Alcoholic Hepatitis.

Inclusion Criteria: \- clinical diagnosis of first episode of severe alcoholic hepatitis with Maddrey's function score of 32 or higher, and the absence of contraindication to CS therapy (non-controlled infections/sepsis, hepatic encephalopathy, recent acute gastrointestinal bleeding, severe kidney dysfunction). The diagnosis of AH was based on the criteria of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)-funded Alcoholic Hepatitis Consortia (Crabb DW, 2016). In particular, were enrolled in the study patients with: heavy alcohol use for \>6 months, with an average consumption of more than 3 drinks (∼40 g) per day for women and 4 drinks (∼50-60 g) per day for men and with \<30 days of abstinence before the onset of jaundice; AST/ALT ratio \> 1.5 with an AST level \> 45 IU/L (1.5 times upper limit of normal) and \< 400 IU/L; serum bilirubin \>3 mg/dL. Exclusion Criteria: * acute or chronic viral hepatitis, * nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, * cocaine use, * drug-induced liver injury, * fulminant Wilsons disease, * hepatocellular carcinoma, * portal vein thrombosis, * biliary obstruction, * severe autoimmune liver disease, * neoplasms, * severe comorbidities.