Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:595-599
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
Use of laboratory tests to monitor heavy drinking by alcoholic men discharged from a treatment program
M Irwin, S Baird, TL Smith and M Schuckit
Clinical Center for Research on Alcoholism, San Diego VA Medical Center, CA 92161.
Changes in blood test values from the time of discharge from an alcohol
treatment program to 3-month follow-up were studied in two consecutive
series of alcoholic men. The parallel combination of a percent increase in
gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) of greater than or equal to 20%, in
aspartate aminotransferase (SGOT) of greater than or equal to 40%, and in
alanine aminotransferase (SGPT) of greater than or equal to 20% over
discharge values was developed as a rule and then cross-validated to
identify those alcoholic men who had resumed drinking at follow-up. Serial
determination of these three test values in combination can be used to
distinguish recovering alcoholics who remain abstinent from those who
resume drinking.
