Liver Disease Diagnosis Series – 4

  Alkaline phosphatase: May be mildly elevated in chronic hepatic hepatitis or cirrhosis, and may be significantly elevated mainly when there is impaired excretion of bile secreted by hepatocytes or obstruction of the bile duct. It may also be elevated in the presence of tumors in the liver and in bone disease.  Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase: The clinical significance is similar to that of alkaline phosphatase. When alkaline phosphatase is elevated and it is not easy to identify an intrahepatic or extrahepatic cause, a test for GGT can be helpful. That is, when GGT and ALT are elevated at the same time, the possibility of liver disease cause is in some. In addition, GGT is often elevated when drinking too much alcohol. So it is also possible to determine in general whether alcohol is contraindicated or not.  Prothrombin time: Liver cells synthesize many clotting factors. If there are not enough functioning liver cells, the synthesis of clotting factors will be reduced and the clotting time will be prolonged accordingly. Prothrombin time is a direct indicator of clotting time and is also one of the indicators to evaluate the function of residual hepatocytes.