For the first time in more than a decade, the American College of Gastroenterology offered a new recommendation for the evaluation of abnormal liver chemistries.
Here's what you should know.
1. Researchers defined a normal healthy serum alanine aminotransferase level for women — up to 25 IU/L — and for men — up to 33 IU/L. Anything above that level should be further assessed.
2. Paul Y. Kwo, MD, of Stanford (Calif.) University, Stanley M. Cohen, MD, of Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University and Joseph K. Lim, MD, of New Haven, Conn.-based Yale University authored the guideline.
3. They believe the guideline "provides a framework for physicians to approach the very common problem encountered of a patient whose liver chemistries are abnormal."
4. The researchers made the guideline on emerging data from the past decade that demonstrated ATL levels above the defined threshold were often associated with a higher mortality rate.
5. The new guideline includes algorithms to help physicians categorize the elevations to define the "new normal."