Measurement practices of alanine aminotransferase in children: Temporal changes and etiology for increased values.
J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr
; 78(6): 1383-1388, 2024 Jun.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38477384
ABSTRACT
Data on alanine aminotransferase (ALT) measurement practices and diagnoses associated with increased values are limited. We evaluated these issues by collecting ALT measurements from 1- to 16-year-old patients investigated in 1992-2018 in a tertiary center. Diagnoses were gathered in 2008-2018. Altogether 145,092 measurements from 28,118 children were taken 42% undergoing repeated testing. Testing increased from 21/1000 to 81/1000 children and the prevalence of elevated values fluctuated between 18% and 26%. An increase was seen especially in emergency care and departments of rheumatology, gastroenterology, hemato-oncology, and psychiatry. Common acute causes associated with elevated ALT were infections (45%), hemato-oncologic conditions (17%), and external reasons (13%), whereas autoimmune diseases (28%), psychiatric conditions (14%), and metabolic-dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (10%) were common chronic causes. In conclusion, ALT testing increased 3.9-fold while the proportion of increased values remained stable, indicating that increased testing was justified. However, in some departments the testing efficiency was low.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Alanine Transaminase
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
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Infant
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Finlandia