Interpreting abnormal liver blood test results
Stewart, Stuart Distante, Sonia Duke, Nicola Shearman, Jeremy
Stewart, Stuart
Distante, Sonia
Duke, Nicola
Shearman, Jeremy
Affiliation
University of Manchester; Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust; Oslo University Hospital, Norway; Abbey Surgery, Tavistock; South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust; University of Warwick, Coventry
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Publication date
2025-11-13
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Abstract
'Practice Pointer' article.
What you need to know
- Core liver blood tests have low sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing liver disease, so consider an abnormal result a prompt to use a more specific test
- Repeat a liver blood test only if you know the cause of the abnormality, and if you are not sure, establish the most likely cause first
- Abnormal liver blood test results rarely return to normal within one month
- Liver blood tests should not be interpreted in isolation, but used as part of a diagnostic pathway in conjunction with other investigations
- Risk and prognosis in liver disease are determined by cause, more than degree of liver blood test abnormality
Citation
Stewart S, Distante S, Duke N, Shearman J. Interpreting abnormal liver blood test results. BMJ. 2025 Nov 13;391:e082648. doi: 10.1136/bmj-2024-082648.
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Article