Patient's question:
The baby is now four months old. In the first three months, the jaundice kept recurring. By three and a half months, the jaundice had mostly subsided, but upon a thorough liver function check, it was found that the liver was damaged again. The baby was hospitalized for a week to receive liver-protecting treatment through intravenous fluids. When the alanine aminotransferase levels had almost fully returned to normal, the baby was discharged (on December 28th). After returning home, the baby took medicine for a week, and then underwent a follow-up liver function test (on January 10th). The alanine aminotransferase levels rose again.Doctor's answer:
Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is the most commonly used sensitive indicator for reflecting liver damage. When only 1% of liver cells undergo purulent infection again, the serum ALT level can decrease by half. If the aspartate aminotransferase (AST) continues to decline and is lower than ALT, it generally indicates severe damage to the liver parenchyma. There are many reasons that can lead to liver injury and abnormal liver function, including viral hepatitis, drug-induced liver injury, alcoholic liver injury, fatty liver, autoimmune liver disease, malnutrition, biliary obstruction, circulatory disorders, tumors, and hereditary defects, among others.