Dr. Penchilaprasad Kandikattu
Internal Medicine
The following is an actual conversation between an iCliniq user and a doctor that has been reviewed and published as a Premium Q&A.
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Patient's Query
Hello doctor,
I am a 37-year-old female. I had a VSG surgery with gall bladder removal six months ago. My ALT, AST, and ALP were fine and within the normal range during the time of surgery. But my recent blood reports show abnormal values of AST, ALT, and ALP. I have been drinking alcohol every weekend for a couple of months. And I was unaware that I should not take tablet Tylenol and used it daily for about five months. After searching a lot on the internet, I fear that I have liver cirrhosis. Could I have done that much damage in that short of time? Can my liver heal itself at this point?
Kindly help.
Hello,
Welcome to icliniq.com.
I have gone through all your investigation reports (attachments removed to protect the patient’s identity). Elevated SGOT (serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase) and SGPT (serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase) is not a criteria for liver cirrhosis. Chances of Paracetamol induced liver cirrhosis are significantly less. Alcohol can cause liver cirrhosis, fatty liver disease, and alcoholic hepatitis. This results in the elevation of liver enzymes. Both fatty liver and alcoholic hepatitis are reversible, but cirrhosis is the next stage and irreversible.
From the above, I conclude that you have mild alcoholic hepatitis. Kindly avoid or reduce alcohol consumption, eat food rich in vitamin A and E, do regular exercise and yoga. Use tablet Udilive 150 mg (Ursodeoxycholic acid) twice a day after food for one month. Paracetamol can aggravate alcohol-induced hepatitis, so it is better to reduce the dose.
Take care.
Patient's Query
Hello,
Thank you for the reply.
I was a borderline heavy drinker before my surgery. I have read that blood tests do not always show the extent of liver damage and can often be in the normal range. So, are my liver enzymes values wrongly indicated?
Thanks.
Hello,
Welcome back to icliniq.com.
Yes, blood investigations help diagnose acute liver cell damage but do not help diagnose liver cirrhosis.
But do not worry as your liver enzymes are not much elevated. But the confirmatory test for cirrhosis of the liver is abdominal ultrasound. So take the medication mentioned above for a month and repeat investigations. You will see good improvement.
I think I cleared your query.
Take care.
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Internal Medicine
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