['Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Western countries. The present study investigated the status and the risk factors for predicting mortality of ALD in Taiwan.', 'We retrospective studied 100 consecutive in patients with ALD between 1992 and 2000. All patients had a history of alcohol consumption exceeding 80 g per day for at least 5 years.', 'The study comprised 93 men and 7 women with a mean age of 45.4 years. The ALD included fatty liver (21%), alcoholic hepatitis (15%), alcoholic hepatitis superimposed on alcoholic cirrhosis (24%), and alcoholic cirrhosis (40%). Forty-four percent of patients had esophagogastric varices. Thirty-three percent of patients were mortality. The presence of esophagogastric varices was the only parameter identified by univariate and multivariate analyses and had a statistically significant association with increased mortality (OR: 8.603; 95% CI: 2.009-36.864; p = 0.004). The cumulative survival for ALD patients with varices was significantly lower than for patients without varices.'] Do esophagogastric varices predict mortality in hospitalized patients with alcoholic liver disease in Taiwan?