What tests are needed to check liver disease

Liver disease can be said to be a relatively common disease at present, and many patients are deeply affected by it. However, some people do not know much about this and do not know what tests they need to do if they want to check their liver function. Many people go to the hospital to have doctors do color ultrasound and CT scans, but they still don’t know whether they have liver disease. Below we will introduce to you what tests are generally needed to check for liver disease.

Clinical significance of liver laboratory tests

1. Screening for asymptomatic liver disease and determining whether there is liver damage

2. Assist in the diagnosis of various types of liver diseases and assess the severity of liver diseases

3. Monitor the progression of liver disease and determine treatment efficacy and prognosis

4. Hepatotropic virus markers and liver disease autoantibodies to determine the cause

What are the examination methods for liver disease?

In addition to clinical symptoms and signs, the following examination methods are often used to provide a basis for diagnosis of liver disease:

1. Liver function test

(GOT, GPT): When liver cells are necrotic and the liver cell membrane is damaged, GOT and GPT are released into the blood (under normal circumstances, GOT and GPT exist not only in liver cells, but also in cells in other parts of the body, such as muscle cells, brain cells, myocardial cells, etc., so an increase in GOT and GPT is not necessarily a manifestation of damaged liver function, but its content is highest in liver cells). Therefore, some people think that it is more appropriate to call it a "liver inflammation indicator" rather than a liver function indicator. The levels of GOT and GPT do not have a certain relationship with the severity and prognosis of liver disease. Sometimes the immune system causes liver cell necrosis in order to eliminate the virus, and the GOT and GPT values ​​will rise at this time. Therefore, GOT and GPT alone cannot be used to judge whether there is a problem with the liver.

2. Abdominal ultrasound examination

Although blood tests can reflect the patient's liver function status, they cannot provide clear information about cirrhosis or liver cancer. In particular, some patients with cirrhosis and liver cancer may have liver function test results within the normal range and may have no symptoms. Therefore, it is necessary to draw blood for testing and combine it with ultrasound examination.

3. Blood alpha-fetoprotein (AFP/fetoprotein) test

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP/fetoprotein) is currently an important indicator for detecting liver cancer. AFP/AFP is a manifestation of active growth of liver cells, so a small number of normal people and pregnant women can have higher levels than normal people. The liver cells of the fetus grow actively, and the AFP/AFP it secretes is significantly higher than that of normal people (so it can be called fetal protein). AFP can pass through the placental barrier and increase the AFP in the mother's blood. When the liver cells of some hepatitis patients grow actively during the recovery period, AFP may also increase, but the increase is generally mild or lasts for a short time. When AFP increases significantly or progressively, it may be liver cancer. Be sure to consult a specialist and go to the hospital for examination as soon as possible.

4. Imaging examination

(1) Ultrasound examination: Diffuse liver disease has its own unique manifestations on B-ultrasound images:

(2) CT: Diffuse liver disease is manifested by the liver density (CT value) being generally lower than that of the spleen, kidneys, and intrahepatic blood vessels. After enhancement, the intrahepatic blood vessel shadows are displayed very clearly, and there is no abnormality in their morphology and direction. The CT value is significantly negatively correlated with the amount of liver fat deposition. Since the spleen CT value is often relatively fixed, the ratio of liver/spleen CT values ​​can be used as a reference standard to measure the severity of liver disease or as a basis for follow-up of therapeutic effects. What are the methods for diagnosing liver disease? CT is superior to B-ultrasound in diagnosing liver disease, but its disadvantages are high cost and radioactivity. In addition, magnetic resonance imaging and hepatic arteriography are mainly used for patients who are difficult to diagnose with ultrasound and CT examinations, especially when focal liver disease is difficult to distinguish from liver tumors.

(3) Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Although MRI is relatively expensive, it is an exciting laboratory technology that can determine tumors and liver blood flow in an advanced way and identify blood vessels without contrast agents. Although still under development, MRI is comparable to CT in detecting solid mass lesions and can visualize the perihepatic vasculature and biliary system. Magnetic resonance imaging of the gallbladder is becoming the screening test of choice over more invasive examinations.