Scarring occurs throughout the liver. With continued scarring, the liver shrinks, becomes firm, and is no longer able to function. Cirrhosis is permanent, even if a person stops drinking. Alcoholic fatty liver often causes no symptoms. The disease may not be found until the person sees a healthcare provider for another medical condition.
Symptoms can include an enlarged liver and sometimes tenderness when the liver is touched.
There can be liver failure and death in severe cases. Alcoholic cirrhosis usually takes at least 10 years or more of excessive drinking to develop. The symptoms develop slowly. The liver shrinks and is scarred, firm, and nodular. Scarring around the veins in the liver causes blood to find other routes of flow.