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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suggest Treatment For High ALT Levels In A Child

My son is 5 months and at first didn t put on much weight. He has now started gaining weight - I have exclusively breastfed him. He looks healthy and is awake and alert for the majority of the day and completing his milestones well before he should be. I was seeing the paedatrician at our hospital who took blood from him to be tested. Two weeks later they said they will have to take again to test ALT levels as they were high (82), today (2 weeks later again) he had to have blood tests again as it is still quite high. I asked what it means and they just said it could be an infection?? I have tried looking on the internet and keep coming across ALT in the same sentence as liver disease. Can you give me some possibilties why this would be high and is it something to be very concerned about? Thanks
Fri, 14 Jul 2017
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Pediatrician,  's  Response
Dear Parent,

A healthy and awake baby is a very reassuring sign. I totally understand your concern about the ALT tests being repeated. However, reference levels of ALT have not been established for infants. If liver cells to be damaged, the levels of ALT are usually elevated atleast more than 3 times the upper limit. I suggest that you discuss your concerns with your pediatrician who can counsel you about what they are looking out for.
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Suggest Treatment For High ALT Levels In A Child

Dear Parent, A healthy and awake baby is a very reassuring sign. I totally understand your concern about the ALT tests being repeated. However, reference levels of ALT have not been established for infants. If liver cells to be damaged, the levels of ALT are usually elevated atleast more than 3 times the upper limit. I suggest that you discuss your concerns with your pediatrician who can counsel you about what they are looking out for.