Evaluating liver enzyme elevation

In an interview at the 2023 Fetch dvm360 Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, faculty member Stuart Walton, BVSc (Hons), BSCAgr (Hons), shared his advice for how to evaluate a blood test that shows elevated liver enzymes and what that can mean for the patient. He explained that taking into consideration other factors, like pre-existing conditions, can help determine the next steps in diagnosis.

The following is a partial transcript of the video.

Stuart Walton, BVSc (Hons), BSCAgr (Hons): The big thing with liver enzyme elevation, especially ALT [alanine transaminase], is that just an ALT being elevated on its own is not necessarily indicative of liver disease. When you see an elevation to the liver enzyme when you perform some blood tests, is just a snapshot in time. When you're actually evaluating liver disease, what you should do is take several points of time.