Circulating CEA levels in patients with fulminant hepatitis.

CEA levels were determined in blood specimens from 14 persons suffering from fulminant hepatitis. Values ranged from 1.9 to 21 ng/ml with a mean of 7.0 ng/ml. All except one patient had a CEA level greater than 2.5 ng/ml, but only three exceeded 10 ng/ml. There was no correlation between single CEA levels and prognosis, routine liver chemistries, or histopathologic characterization of hepatic tissue obtained at postmortem examination. These data show that patients with fulminant hepatitis commonly had increased circulating levels of CEA, but these elevations were far less than may be found in patients with hepatic metastases. In severe hepatic dysfunction reduced hepatic clearance of CEA may be responsible for the increased levels.