liver function tests, INR etc

[Guest guest]

Hello I am fairly new to this site. My son, 18 has UC/PSC diagnosed in

2004. In Feb this year he had an ERCP for central bile duct stenosis,

followed by acute pancreatitis.He has felt great since then and is busy

in his final year at school with exams and uni applications.

We have just had an appt with his GI ( he has them every 3 months)

followed by his monthly Remicade infusion.His Gi gave me a copy of all

the blood test results done from just before the ERCP and I can see the

pattern of SBr, etc etc.

His INR was done on 1st Feb and was 1.2.My question is - does the INR

change from month to month(they havent done it since the 5th Feb when

it was 1.2).

I have today calculated his MELD score and it is 11. This was a bit of

a shock to me. I also see from this print off that his alkalne

phosphate is climbing again - 421 last month. Sbr last month 2.17. We

have no results yet from the tests done this morning.

So is this MELD scorehigh? What score is an indication of cirrhosis?

What other tests are an indication of cirrhosis? Should I be concerned

with these alk phosphate levels?? or do I just wait for the hospital to

call us if they are concerned. I asked about his dose level of ursochol

today - he's been on 600mg/day - and the GI has incereased it to 900mg

which is now 15mg/kg.

He attends a great Uni hospital in Leuven, Belgium. And to date they

have been excellent.

As you can tell I am a concerned mother

Many thanks for this great support group!

Brussels

[Guest guest]

When I read posts that others on this site send about liver function

tests, I always want some answers which I still haven't fully got.

Others mention high ALK. PHos etc and sometimes it has just gone up

about 100 or so. When my son was diagnosed two years ago, his values

were extremely high. His ALK Phos was 1443 (normal 35-129), GGT was

1601 (normal 5-61), ALT 78 (normal 0-41), AST 83 (normal 0-37).

Things have changed considerably after only about 6 months of

medication and everything has been in the normal range for 1-1 1/2

years now. He is asymtomatic. What bothers me is why those extremely

high values initially which I don't see anyone ever reporting. His

values were really sky rocketing. Could that have caused a lot of

damage that i need more monitoring? He currently sees the GI every

three months. I worry.

Any ideas?

Rita (Florida)