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Autoimmune Hepatitis

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How is Autoimmune Hepatitis Diagnosed?

The doctor will make a diagnosis based on symptoms, blood tests, and a liver biopsy.

• Blood Tests A routine blood test for liver enzymes can help reveal a pattern typical of hepatitis, but further tests, especially for autoantibodies, are needed to diagnose autoimmune hepatitis.
  
  Antibodies are proteins made by the immune system to fight off bacteria and viruses. Autoantibodies attack the body's cells. In autoimmune hepatitis, the immune system makes one or more types of autoantibodies.
  
  The most common are antinuclear antibodies (ANA), smooth muscle antibodies (SMA), and antibodies to liver and kidney microsomes (anti-LKM). People with type 1 have ANA, SMA, or both, and people with type 2 have anti-LKM.
  
  Blood tests also help distinguish autoimmune hepatitis from other diseases that resemble it, such as viral hepatitis B or C or a metabolic disease such as Wilson disease.
• Liver Biopsy A tiny sample of liver tissue, examined with a microscope, can help doctors accurately diagnose autoimmune hepatitis and tell how serious it is. This procedure is done in a hospital or outpatient surgical facility.

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References:
National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC)
April 2008
digestive.niddk.nih.gov

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