2 Year Child Having Grossly Elevated Liver Enzymes Without Jaundice. Concerned

Posted on Tue, 18 Sep 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 Answered on

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : Grossly elevated liver enzymes without jaundice in a 2 yr old

Answered by Dr. Hema Yadav (1 hour later)

Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
Grossly elevated liver enzymes without icterus ( yellowish discoloration of skin sclera etc ) can be most probably caused by hepatits A virus infection which is a common cause of jaundice in children .
In some children the presentation might be atypical like liver enlargement , fever , elevated liver enzymes without much hyperbilirubinemia etc in contrast to the usual presentation of jaundice .
Sometimes there can be other causes for such anicteric hepatitis like chronic hepatits b infection , other bacterial or viral infections like leptospirosis , dengue etc , metabolic disorders ( mostly inborn ) or drug induced causes of hepatitis .

The next best step would be to consult a pediatrician or pediatric gastroenterologist who can confirm the diagnosis by carrying out blood test like viral markers ( hepatits A , hbsag etc) , coagulation profile and an ultrasound abdomen.The treatment is mostly supportive like that of any acute hepatitis and includes Intravenous fluids , liver protective agents and multivitamin supplements apart from symptomatic treatment .

Hope I have answered your query.
Kindly accept my answer in case you have no further queries.
Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar