Point-of-care continuous 13C-methacetin breath test improves decision making in acute liver disease: Results of a pilot clinical trial

Figure 1 This is an illustration of typical breath test and blood test results plotted over the clinical time course. The wide green line indicates the range of normal values. As the patient recovered, test results converged toward normality.

Figure 2 The clinical course of a patient with fulminant auto-immune hepatitis. A: Upon admission, aminotransferase levels were well above 10 × ULN, INR was increased, and breath test values were low. The patient received treatment with steroids and recovered rapidly. The breath test values normalized within 3 d, but blood tests began normalizing 2 d later; B: Despite therapy with steroids, this patient failed to improve, developed gram negative sepsis, and died. Note that despite stable blood tests, there was a lack of improvement in breath test values. The low breath test values may have been a negative prognostic factor in this patient and may have provided a rationale for early transplantation.