[The diagnostic value of the aminophenazone breath test in chronic liver diseases]

In 230 patients (90 females, 140 males aged between 20 and 73 years, average age 47.8 years) with and without exception histologically and/or laparoscopically ascertained chronic liver diseases (degenerative damages of liver parenchyma in 45, fatty liver stage I in 28, fatty liver stage II in 36, cholangiohepatitis in 4, chronic persisting hepatitis in 31, chronic active hepatitis in 57 and liver cirrhosis in 59 cases) the incorporation of the aminophenazon breathing test in the so-called laboratory chemical liver spectrum was controlled. The restriction of the microsomal biotransformation established by means of the aminophenazon breathing test behaved parallel to the degree of severity of the disease. The aminophenazon breathing test was performed in the modification after Haustein and Schenker (1985). The largest delays in the decomposition were found in the complete cirrhotic transformation of the liver. The unequivocally pathologic result of the aminophenazon breathing test in severe irreversible damages of the liver parenchyma was confirmed by the formation of correlations with parameters of the conventional laboratory spectrum of the liver. Thus the restriction of the performance of the synthesis of the liver for coagulation factors and albumins was parallel to the loss of function of the mixed functional oxidases. In all patients with chronic liver diseases a connection between the value of the thromboplastin time (Quick's test) and result of the breathing test was found. Positive linear correlation between serum albumin and results of the breathing test could also be proved particularly in the group of the severe chronic inflammatory liver diseases. In chronic fibrosing liver diseases there were positive inverse correlations between gamma-globulin concentration in the serum and thymol turbidity test on the one hand as well as the aminophenazon breathing test on the other. There were no correlations between liver enzyme and aminophenazon breathing test. The results of the own investigations incorporate the aminophenazon breathing test as indicator of a severe liver cell damage which at the same time is established by the pathological result of the so-called synthesis parameters of the liver.