Ascites and Fatty Liver

Hi.  I just read in the "Ask the dr" forum of gastro about a man who had ascites and drank heavily.  His CT scan showed fatty infiltration.  The dr. suggested a biopsy to confirm or rule out cirrhosis.  My question is can you get ascites and portal hypertension in the absence of cirrhosis?  My husband's liver biopsy said diffuse fatty infiltration of mixed macro and microvesicular fat and he was diagnosed with alcoholic liver disease, but he has thankfully stopped drinking and is now in treatment.  I am just curious cause I try to learn all I can about liver disease since he has it.  Thanks.

[ggreg]

About all I know is, I have a fatty liver, which was revealed on a Cat scan.  I also have ascites.  The gastro guy said my family doc should watch my liver enzymes, because if they get out of whack, I'll get hepatitis.  I quit drinking more than 20 years ago, but apparently the damage has been done.  I felt fine until recently, so maybe it takes a while for all that to show up, I don't know.  The ascites, I do not know if it comes from the liver or where it comes from.  Some medications I was taking made me very ill, I gained a lot of weight, and my tummy swelled up, and the cat scan showed the ascites.  I quit those meds, my tummy went down a little, my IBS was reduced, so I am hoping now if I would just lose some weight, perhaps the swelling would go, too.  But it will be a while before I will know for sure.  I have seen some scans online of different livers in different types of stages of illness.  A fatty liver is definitely not the worst thing in the world.  My liver is smooth and does not have too many white (fat) deposits and does not have any lumps at all.  Whereas I've seen some pics where the liver can look pretty goofed up, lumpy, with dark colorations.  A good medical doctor should be able to watch his liver for him.

I think his recovery is probably your major obstacle at the moment.  The alcoholic actor Spencer Tracy said, "Find something else you like to do."  So, whatever environmental triggers get him to drinking, that's got to be eliminated.  So, I quit "going out" and I quit sitting around listening to music.  I started watching a lot of TV, gardening, and taking long walks with my husband and the dogs.  Takes about a year to fully get used to the idea that alcohol is bad for a person.  Until then, it takes sheer willpower, a powerful motive to stay sober, and a renewal of "normal" interests.