Serum bile acids (a new advance in the diagnosis of liver disease)

Serum bile acid measurements now available by radioimmunoassay have proven to be the most sensitive procedure developed to date to assess diseases of the hepatobiliary system in both adult and pediatric liver disease. Their clinical utility appears to hold particular promise in establishing the early diagnosis of liver disease when conventional liver function test such as SGOT, alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin and albumin are still normal. Serum bile acid determinations have been shown to be particularly useful in the diagnosis of alcoholic liver disease, drug-induced liver disease, viral hepatitis and cholestasis of intra- and extrahepatic origin. In infants, serum bile acid measurements can be used to establish the diagnosis of biliary atresia. When serum bile acids are determined post-prandially, they are the most sensitive indicator of liver dysfunction developed to date.