Abnormal Hepatic Tests in Muscular Disease:  Preliminary Report

Introduction  Many clinical observations relating liver function to muscle disease have not been objectively tested.^1-3 The observation that some patients with muscular disease have had episodes of jaundice suggested a study of liver functions in patients with muscular disease.

Material and Methods 

1. Test Selection.  —Since few tests measure hepatic function directly, the term "hepatic test" is preferable to "liver-function test." Abnormal findings are often registered without significant alteration of hepatic structures. Contrariwise, almost all hepatic tests yield normal values in approximately 10% of patients in whom abnormalities should be expected.A fusion of clinical and experimental results is needed before liver function may be analyzed accurately in terms of measurable components. Some writers claim that only sulfobromophthalein (Bromsulphalein) and urinary coproporphyrin are unequivocally significant independently.⁴ Tests which appear to represent different functional changes actually are consequences of a common set of factors; therefore, a large battery