bloodwork

[Ellen]

My 14 year old son has a horrible fungus infection on his foot,
but the bloodwork he had showed slightly elevated liver enzymes:
ast of 97, alt of 44 so he cannot take any oral anti fungil medicine because of this slight elevation. All other liver levels were in range, as was all other bloodwork.  He shows no symptoms of anything, other than miserable teenage acne.  My peditrician says not to worry, test again in 6 weeks.  What does this elevation mean? He had been on carbamezapine for 2 years when he was l0.  Now he takes acetaminophin for headaches about 3x per month.  I can't help but worry.

[Jim]

I have chronic upper back problems & I take 2 pain-killers a day ( HYDROCODONE ). I'm having cold sweats regularly. My Dr. says I am making too much blood. I have 2 questions.
  1--Would the pain pills have any effect on the sweats?
  2-- What makes your body produce too much blood? ( I don't smoke )

[Pat]

what causes elevated phosphate outgoing in liver?

[stacie lynn]

Last July i has my gallbladder removed because it was terribly infected but had no stones.  Now I am having attacks that point to the possibility of a gallstone.  At first I thought I was having a heart attack (I am only 26) My chest and back between my shoulder blades were hurting so bad I didn't think I was going to make it to the hospital.  Blood work showed possible inflammation around liver and pancreas but ultasound showed no enlargement of the bile duct.  The ER doctor said it still could be a stone.  Then I went to my doctor who did the gallbladder surgery and he looked at the test results and decided it was not my bile duct but possibly my liver and requested more liver blood work in 2 weeks.      Please tell my your opinions on what you think.  I'm still having ab pain on right side and indigestion.          thank you

[Walter Johnson]

i have hcv and was just wondering is voliting is cause by the hcv.

[annie]

what do SGOT and SGPT mean?

[Darlene]

My husband suffered from Ulcerative Colitis from age 8 to mid 40s' at which time an iliostomy and later j pouch were done.  From 1991 - present the doctors have monitored his liver functions and have "ASSUMED" he has Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis or Cancer of the Bile Ducts or Liver.  SGOT ranges from 48 - 140, SGPT from 50 - 160 A/Phosp. from 154 - 1100 (recently around 155), Gamma Gob. 409 - 550.  On one occassion his Vitamin B12 was measured at 713 and his Gamma GT was at 1104.

My comment:  I realize his liver readings are very abnormal and indeed point to one of the above.
I am aware that liver disease progresses after the above surgeries.  My husband has frequent diarrea (sometimes up to 12 times per day).....he blames this on the size of pouch.  I see this as a sign of liver disease (not being able to absorb fat).  

My Questions:
What type of diet can I try to reduce bowel movements if this is due to inability to digest fat?  He is already on a low fat diet.

If he has an ERCP we know we will have to face a truth we are both quite concerned about...and likely only faced with a time-line.  Are we right in avoiding the ERCP and waiting to see.
I know if he qualifies for liver transplant he needs to know in advance to be put on antirejection drugs......how long before transplant does he need to be on preparatory drugs?

Third question:
Could high dose prednisone have caused these high readings or am I looking for an excuse?

Thanks for all the input

Darlene

[Tara]

Hi, I have a rather complex question to ask of you so that you may steer me in a direction of what I need to do, if anything. Hx would be severed duodenitis (could not get scope through duodenum), mild gastritis, reflux, hiatal hernia, and a non threatening colon polyp 2 yrs ago.   Took prevacid got ok.  Developed neurological sx 1 yr later, recently dx'd with MG with thought of another autoimmune process going on due to numbness and loss of all dtr's and gag.  During the testing, my total protein has steadily gone down, last recorded was 5.5, recently during episode of pvc's, which I had never had before or heard of until I had them, my albumin was 3.3 and calcium 8.1.  The only other mention was trace albumin in urine.  I have not dieted, and my diet has not changed.  I do have bloating and pain in upper LQ of abdomen.  My total protein has dropped from 7.6 to 5.5 within 6 months.  My neurologist was speculating amyloidosis but not sure if he is going do muscle bx since the MG came to be dx.

Could this be a sign of the severe duodenitis returning?
What areas would one investigate for this.

Thank you very much for any information you have to offer.

[Pat]

What blood test would be abnormal to suggest that itching is froma Liver problem??

[HFHSm.D.-Gastro-rf]

Dear Ellen,
It is difficult to provide any detailed, specific information without knowing more about your son's medical history and the normal values in the lab.
The elevations of alt and ast indicate that liver cells are either leaking enzyme or are being damaged.  There are a number of possible causes for this problem.  Fatty liver is a very common cause.  Drug-induced liver elevations (in this case related to acetaminophen)is possible.  There are also a variety of liver conditions from acute hepatitis to chronic liver disease to metabolic abnormalities that can be considered.  Many of these conditions can be ruled out with blood and urine tests.  However, before starting a workup, i would recheck the liver tests.

Best of luck