AST may rise to as much as 100 times the upper limit of normal in which condition?

AST may rise to as much as 100 times the upper limit of normal in which condition?

• A. Acute Hepatitis
• B. Crush Injury
• C. Pulmonary Infarction
• D. Chronic Hepatitis

Answer: (A)

Severe hepatocellular injury can cause a dramatic release of AST into the blood, and in acute hepatitis this damage is extensive enough to push AST levels very high—often up to around 100 times the upper limit of normal (roughly thousands of units per liter). This reflects widespread liver cell necrosis and leakage of cytosolic enzymes. While AST can also rise with muscle injury (crush injuries) or other tissue damage, the magnitude seen in acute hepatitis is characteristic and much less typical of chronic hepatitis, where elevations are milder, or of pulmonary infarction, which rarely causes such high transaminase levels.

Severe hepatocellular injury can cause a dramatic release of AST into the blood, and in acute hepatitis this damage is extensive enough to push AST levels very high—often up to around 100 times the upper limit of normal (roughly thousands of units per liter). This reflects widespread liver cell necrosis and leakage of cytosolic enzymes. While AST can also rise with muscle injury (crush injuries) or other tissue damage, the magnitude seen in acute hepatitis is characteristic and much less typical of chronic hepatitis, where elevations are milder, or of pulmonary infarction, which rarely causes such high transaminase levels.