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Children's health

Blood tests show elevated AST liver enzyme in baby DS - does anyone have experience of this?

67 replies

lowrib · 30/07/2009 22:26

My DS had some blood tests, they came back with raised AST, a liver enzyme.

Apparently it could mean liver damage for a number of reasons, or it could come to nothing.

We have to test again in a month. I'm trying hard not to worry. My DS is 7mo and appears healthy.

He only had the blood tests as a precaution because he's large and it's standard for babies over the 99.6 percentile. Everything else came back normal.

Does anyone have any experience of AST / raised liver enzymes?

OP posts:
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Wln · 29/09/2023 15:08

@ArcticNinja great news!! 😍🥳 I’m so happy for you!

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ArcticNinja · 29/09/2023 15:05

@Wln @MintGreenLife thank you both so so much for your replies. I'm over the moon to report that today his results are normal!!!!! 🎉🍾🎉 I could cry with relief. My stress levels have been through the roof, I can physically feel it all leaving my body 🥰🥰☺️

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MintGreenLife · 25/09/2023 17:05

@ArcticNinja so sorry you are going through this, I was sick with worry for my baby, it’s horrible not knowing what’s causing it! Also sorry for my late reply - I don’t check Mumsnet’s often. So with my little boy (now just over 2!), it turned out he was a carrier of a single faulty gene, meaning he didn’t have the disease, but him being a carrier was what the cause was put down to in the end. I think our last blood test was when he was 6 months old and after that they didn’t want to see him again :)

I really hope you get answers soon, or things start to right themselves. In the case of my little boy, the fact that he is a carrier of this gene should impact his life in any way.

I know from personal experience though just how awful this can be. I had all sorts of complications in pregnancy, a traumatic birth and then all of this once he was born, and it wasn’t until I saw a counsellor that I realised how traumatic I found the experience of him being unwell and all of the blood tests. As I recounted his blood tests and him screaming through them and me feeling helpless watching him in distress and not able to stop it, I cried a lot and realised just how much it effected me. Be kind to yourself, I’m sure your LO will be absolutely fine and with time it’ll improve. Just hold onto hope and know that it’s ok to not be ok through all of this xx

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Wln · 24/09/2023 14:14

@ArcticNinja Did you get any results yet? Waiting sure is sooo stressful. My baby’s ALT was approx 90 in the last test that we had. It came a little bit down and bounced back up for several times during those 5 weeks.

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ArcticNinja · 19/09/2023 21:30

@Wln thank you so much for your reply! So happy it worked out for you in the end! Gives me so much hope. He's 16 weeks old. Bilirubin has now normalised but AST and ALT are now both coming back in the 90s. Everything else seems to be normal. He had an ultrasound today and more bloods taken to look at additional viral and metabolic causes. Waiting for those results is killing me. How high did your little one's ALT get? And did you see them come down? Xx

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Wln · 18/09/2023 10:42

Hi @ArcticNinja! My baby’s liver enzyme and bilirubin levels were going up and down for several weeks. We did blood tests once a week. Baby hasn’t had any symptoms apart from being a little jaundiced. After maybe 5 tests his bilirubin levels started to go down and the jaundice was gone. ALT was still a bit high and because of that we got referred to a gastroenterologist. She wasn’t concerned at all and said that it is actually pretty common and harmless for breastfed babies to have slightly elevated ALT and usually it resolves itself by the age of 6-9 months. Since our baby doesn’t have any symptoms and abdominal ultrasound was clear, we don’t have to do any more blood tests and the doctor didn’t want to see us again. So this was a big relief for us. It was such a stressful time. How old is your baby now and how high are his/her levels?

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ArcticNinja · 17/09/2023 21:12

@Wln going through this now too! How are things with your little one now?

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Wln · 04/08/2023 14:36

Hi all, I know this is an old thread. Going through the same thing right now and I know it’s a long shot but any chance that anyone of you is still using Mumsnet and could give an update? @MintGreenLife @Mommy02 for example. I’m super worried that it’s something serious 😓 My baby is 9 weeks old.

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Mommy02 · 15/02/2022 14:04

@idlipera yeaa have also decided to hold the liver biopsy and the other tests cause little 1 is active without any fever or any signs of pain just alil yellow. Keep her in your prayers. Thanks for replyingHalo

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idlipera · 15/02/2022 10:59

@Mommy02,
Yeah he is very healthy and active now. Even as a baby he is very active and I don't see any problems physically. Looking back, i remember I got a bad flu while I was pregnant so I guess that's where the infection came from. You know your baby well, and drs are there to diagnose (sometimes very technical) but if there is something wrong, is it something very urgent to do? Or can it wait when babies are stronger?

I was not advise to do a biopsy but maybe because I said I do not want to test my son anymore. Cause when I ask what will happen if we found out the source of infection, the dr said nothing, we are not even sure if we can find it as there are other viral infections that are not discovered... so nothing to do even if you know. They should have said it to me the first time we do all those blood tests. The other tests are reasonable like the liver structure, liver profile, hepa...
I felt the dr sometimes are just laying everything to us technically, they don't personally advise what is better (for us) to do. So ask a lot of questions to your pedia, and decide from there. Wish you the best. Smile I know we worry a lot but this too shall pass.

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Mommy02 · 13/02/2022 08:20

@idlipera thank you soo mch for replyin also my dd was born at 2.5kgs so hope its the same as your baby. We did the torch test everything came negative. Now the pedia is suggesting liver biopsy which my mummy gut is completely against. Wil keep you posted how she doesSmile. Really glad your little angels doin well

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idlipera · 13/02/2022 05:25

Hi @Mommy02,
Yeah my son's eyes was still yellow at two months thats why we still did those tests still at 3mos. He became ok after a few weeks or 3mos. I know how worrying this is for you right now, but believe that babies body are strong and they grow out of it. Just keep on feeding your baby and see your pedia/GP if something still doesn't look good.

BTW, my son is 4yrs old now and we did not look back on this issue ever again. If I can go back, I would not do the TORCH test after all the other tests are negative. Cause it only caused me great anxiety, I can still hear my son's cry when nurse get his blood.

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Mommy02 · 13/02/2022 00:18

Hi, i am really glad came across this page. Was feeling alone going through all this @idlipera my dd is going through the same thing right now, she is 2mos old still jaundiced with elevated liver enzymes. Have done all the tests you have done. All to be negative. Just wanted to ask you when did you notice the colour of your little 1 going back to normal...cause my dd still appears quiet yellow at 2mos. It will be really helpful if you please replied. Really worried. Thankss

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Belle82 · 11/01/2022 13:51

@MintGreenLife
Hi, would you mind telling me how your little boy is doing now?
My little boy’s bilirubin level was 16.7 with conjurgated at 16%. He was 3 weeks when the jaundice started to show.
Do you know the reason your little boy was sent for liver function tests? They refuse to repeat his bilirubin or do liver function tests on my little boy. The nurses refuse to let me even see a peadatrician 😔
I’m so worried but I have no idea what to do.

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MintGreenLife · 22/08/2021 15:05

@LRJB20 it’s such a worry isn’t it. Have any additional tests been done so far? We had loads of bloods done on Thursday plus an ultrasound - ultrasound came back all normal, just waiting on the blood results now x

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LRJB20 · 21/08/2021 09:05

Experiencing the same thing with dd, high liver enzymes still at 12 wks (persistent testing, originally found at prolonged j clinic although jaundice subsided quickly). Off to liver specialists imminently and so worried. Growing, well, healthy baby otherwise.

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MintGreenLife · 17/08/2021 11:13

@spel21 thought I would update you - found out the results from Friday which were just AST raised at 105. Had more bloods and has gone up to 134 which seems like a sharp rise in the space of 3 days 😕 I’ve been told they’re not worried as he’s clearly a well baby - feeding well and gaining weight etc, but that we are being referred to a specialist at another hospital as that’s what their guidelines stipulate should be done. Am a little disappointed/nervous but will just have to trust what they say and that he is Ok x

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MintGreenLife · 16/08/2021 06:11

@spel21 thank you, I was nervous about today but I’m too exhausted to be nervous now really. We are also battling silent reflux and DS can’t be put down at all so that’s very difficult. Thanks so much for answering my questions. Really hope we get some answers at our appointment today xxx

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spel21 · 15/08/2021 18:46

@MintGreenLife All the worry is exhausting and dealing with it while having a newborn baby too will sometimes be a lot to cope with. I certainly had days where I felt like that. But then I had good days too where I felt really positive that things were going to be ok, it really is a rollercoaster. I’m sure tomorrow can’t come soon enough for you. Although like you say, I hated seeing my baby be pulled about, but the nurses could tell I was struggling and were brilliant. I’ll be thinking of you tomorrow. The doctors at my local hospital were guided by the liver specialists right from the beginning, so they told them what tests needed to be done to get things started. We first saw the specialists when my little boy was 11 weeks old and then again for his last appointment back in May when he was 17 weeks old. We will be back there again in December. Xxx

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MintGreenLife · 15/08/2021 17:05

@spel21 I tho I’ve exhausted google already and it hasn’t helped much like you say, hopefully I will get more info tomorrow. Our test tomorrow is to see if the enzymes was increased again in the short time since the last test. I have cried a lot today 😥 part of rusts upsetting me so much is him having to go through more tests and distress after we had so much of it in the first couple of weeks of his life, really thought we could move on from it all and just get on with our lives together. Thanks so much for your offer to ask questions, I’m sure I will take you up on that! Out of interest, were you referred to a liver specialist, and if so how quickly did that happen? Xxx

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spel21 · 15/08/2021 15:52

@MintGreenLife I think staying off google is great advice, personally I spent hours looking and there were so many things that can cause high bilirubin/liver enzymes I never really got any answers. I would talk to anyone that listened and found that really helped, especially talking to people who had been through something similar. If at any point you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask. To answer one of your other questions, the doctors got the ball rolling with blood tests quite quickly with my little boy, although some of the results took a little while to come back. It can be a rollercoaster going though something like this, and I know it’s hard not to worry but do try and stay positive, enjoy the baby cuddles with your little boy 💙 xxx

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MintGreenLife · 15/08/2021 11:35

@spel21 thanks so much for replying. So good to hear things are going well for you and the raised enzymes seem to be improving! Do you have any advice regarding coping with the situation? I had pregnancy complications and then we had a bumpy start in general, so am now worrying about what’s to come and how I will cope with it all! Xxx

@HotMayo thanks so much for getting back to me. I really appreciate it. How quickly after the raised enzymes were found did you go on to have additional testing? I’m quite worried about this being dragged out and not knowing that’s going on for a long time. The appointment tomorrow can’t come soon enough, however I am upset at having to see my baby boy go through the blood tests again 😥 glad to hear your little one is doing well now. CMPA has crossed my mind anyway as my DS does have some symptoms of reflux, and before I was pregnant I had cut out dairy due to a sensitivity, but reintroduced it during my pregnancy and still have it now apart from actual milk, so that could be a possibility. I keep swinging between feeling like it’ll be ok and being completely terrified x

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HotMayo · 15/08/2021 10:21

@MintGreenLife I know that this is a worrying time, but please try to stay positive! We were in a very similar situation to you, and had the prolonged jaundice as well as the elevated AST and ALT. They originally thought that my LO had alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, but genetic testing for that came back clear, ultrasound on liver also came back clear. He is 7 months now, last seen in June and at his June appointment one of his enzyme levels had completely returned to normal and the other one was still slightly elevated but had reduced a lot compared to what it was. We're next seeing our consultant for a another test next month but they're hopeful everything will be back to normal by then. Since weaning, my son had a terrible reaction to eating gluten and raised liver enzymes can be a symptom of celiac so they're currently testing for that as it runs in the family so seems likely, so they think he may have been reacting to gluten through my breastmilk (which is uncommon) which caused the raised liver enzymes before we started weaning. Apparently other allergies such as CMPA can also sometimes cause similar results and we are also CMPA, so it seems that allergies are the cause of our raised liver enzymes. This may not be the case for you if your little one has no other symptoms but just trying to reassure you that it's not always something sinister, despite what Google tells you :) x

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spel21 · 15/08/2021 06:46

Good morning @MintGreenLife, I know what a worrying time this is for you so sending lots of love. My little boy was last seen by doctors at the end of May. His blood results were described as reassuring and I believe only one of the enzymes was still raised but improving. He had another ultrasound which showed his liver was normal, his bile ducts were slightly dilated and spleen slightly enlarged but were the same size compared to the previous ultrasound so described as stable and doctors didn’t seem concerned. They don’t want to see him now until December. My little boy has continued to be happy and healthy in every other way and has never shown any symptoms. I hope everything goes well for you and your baby next week. I’m no doctor so can’t really offer advice but happy to be here for support if needed. Take care xxx

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MintGreenLife · 14/08/2021 19:52

@spel21 @HotMayo @BME2020 please see my post above, am wondering how everything turned out for you? Hope your little ones are all well xxx

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