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Abstract
Gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT), and erythrocyte mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were used as indicators of continued alcohol abuse in 178 patients with known liver disease studied for 5–49 months after diagnosis. Abstension was checked by interviews and blood alcohol determinations. Persistent alcoholics had significantly higher values for all three tests than abstainers. At values above upper normal limits, GGT was the most sensitive test, but the least specific. A positive predictive value of 80% for continued alcohol consumption was chosen, and the corresponding discriminating levels of the tests were compared. With this specificity GGT was the least sensitive test, and it did not add to the efficiency of ASAT or MCV when the tests were combined. Abstinence could not be predicted by low levels of the tests. It is concluded that these biochemical tests are valuable as indicators of alcohol consumption in patients with liver disease and that ASAT and MCV are equally efficient, whereas GGT is inferior to these.