[The validity of laboratory tests in the diagnosis of alcoholism and alcoholic liver injury].

The authors assessed the value of commonly available laboratory examinations for the diagnosis of suspected excessive alcohol intake and suspected liver damage by alcohol. They tested the validity of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gammaglutamyl transferase (GMT), the blood sugar level, serum cholesterol, bilirubinaemia, ferrinaemia and mean corpuscular volume (MCV). The highest validity as regards sensitivity of the examination was recorded in the MCV with a sensitivity of 0.78 and examination of GMT with a sensitivity of 0.72. By combination of MCV and GMT in an alternative manner, the sensitivity rose to 0.87. Evaluation of the groups by the method of discrimination analysis, using all ten parameters, revealed the possibility of 100% correct classification of non-alcoholic subjects and a 86.2% correct qualification of alcoholic subjects.