Published online Jul 14, 2008. doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.4111
Revised: May 9, 2008
Accepted: May 16, 2008
Published online: July 14, 2008
Potential causes of abnormal liver function tests include viral hepatitis, alcohol intake, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, autoimmune liver diseases, hereditary diseases, hepatobiliary malignancies or infection, gallstones and drug-induced liver injury. Moreover, the liver may be involved in systemic diseases that mainly affect other organs. Therefore, in patients without etiology of liver injury by screening serology and diagnostic imaging, but who have systemic diseases, the abnormal liver function test results might be caused by the systemic disease. In most of these patients, the systemic disease should be treated primarily. However, some patients with systemic disease and severe liver injury or fulminant hepatic failure require intensive treatments of the liver.