[Diagnostic and prognostic significance of massively increased serum glutamate dehydrogenase activity]

In a retrospective analysis of case reports of 115 patients with glutamate-dehydrogenase (GLDH) activity in serum of more than 100 U/l in 1979-1981, the most common causes of this increase were: acute right heart failure (28 patients), protracted septic-toxic circulatory failure (20), obstructive jaundice (18) and severe respiratory insufficiency (16), i. e. diseases causing perfusion or excretion disorders in the liver. The ratio of GLDH activity to transaminase activity provided a reliable separation of acute viral hepatitis, but not of different forms of perfusion disorders. The correlation between GLDH activity and death rate, especially in acute right-heart failure, is of prognostic value.