Liver & Gastrointestinal

Grade liver function from albumin and bilirubin alone — an objective alternative to Child-Pugh with no subjective components.

Convert alkaline phosphatase between U/L, IU/L, µkat/L and nkat/L, with adult ranges and the bone-versus-liver question.

Convert alanine aminotransferase between U/L, IU/L, µkat/L and nkat/L, with the updated sex-specific upper limits.

Convert plasma ammonia between µg/dL, µmol/L and µg/L, with the sampling rules that determine whether the result means anything.

Estimate liver fibrosis from AST and platelet count alone — the simplest of the non-invasive fibrosis indices.

Convert aspartate aminotransferase between U/L, IU/L, µkat/L and nkat/L, and see why a raised AST is not always hepatic.

Calculate the De Ritis ratio and read what its value suggests about the cause and stage of liver injury.

A three-item score that rules out advanced fibrosis in fatty liver disease from BMI, the AST/ALT ratio and diabetes status.

Convert total bilirubin between mg/dL, µmol/L, mg/L and µg/dL, with adult reference ranges and jaundice thresholds.

Grade the severity of chronic liver disease from bilirubin, albumin, INR, ascites and encephalopathy, and read off the Child-Pugh class with its survival estimates.

Convert direct bilirubin between mg/dL, µmol/L, mg/L and µg/dL, and see whether the fraction points to a cholestatic cause.

Estimate the probability of hepatic steatosis from BMI, waist circumference, triglycerides and GGT — no imaging required.

Estimate the likelihood of advanced liver fibrosis from age, AST, ALT and platelet count — the first-line non-invasive test in fatty liver disease.

Convert gamma-glutamyl transferase between U/L, IU/L, µkat/L and nkat/L, with sex-specific ranges and what an isolated rise means.

Estimate hepatic steatosis from the ALT/AST ratio, BMI, sex and diabetes status — no waist measurement needed.

Calculate indirect bilirubin from total and direct, and see the conjugated fraction that determines the differential.

Decide at day 7 whether corticosteroids are working in severe alcohol-related hepatitis, using the change in bilirubin.

Identify severe alcohol-related hepatitis, where a discriminant function of 32 or more is the conventional threshold for corticosteroids.

Calculate the MELD 3.0 score used for liver transplant allocation, including the sex and albumin terms added in the 2023 revision.

Calculate the sodium-adjusted MELD score used for liver allocation from 2016 until MELD 3.0 replaced it.

Estimate advanced fibrosis in fatty liver disease from age, BMI, glycaemic status, AST/ALT ratio, platelets and albumin.

Classify liver injury as hepatocellular, cholestatic or mixed from ALT and ALP relative to their upper limits of normal.