THE DIAGNOSTIC SIGNIFICANCE OF A HIGH ASAT/ALAT (GOT/GPT) RATIO IN PATIENTS WITH VERY HIGH SERUM AMINOTRANSFERASE LEVELS

Abstract. A consecutive study of 160 patients with very high (>500 U/1) serum ASAT activity has revealed that this was most commonly due to acute hepatitis, circulatory disturbances, or malignant liver disease. In acute hepatitis the ASAT increase was usually accompanied by a similar rise in ALAT. An ASAT/ALAT ratio > 3 was almost entirely restricted to patients with circulatory disturbances or malignant liver disease. The latter diagnosis should thus be suspected in patients with markedly increased serum aminotransferase activity and an ASAT/ALAT ratio > 3 without evidence of circulatory disturbances.