CLINICAL USEFULNESS OF ASPARTATE AMINOTRANSFERASE TO PLATELET RATIO INDEX FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF LIVER DISEASES

Chronic liver diseases are on the increase world wide among which Chronic Hepatitis C (CHC), Chronic Hepatitis B (CHB) are predominant. Several causative factors have been identified so far. In all such liver diseases, LFTs are the first line of testing done in clinical laboratories followed by CBC and other important microbiology tests if an infections microorganism is the causative agent. While advanced fibrosis factors like FIB-4 are used to confirm the degree of liver damage, simple LFT are routinely done. Aspartate Aminotransferase to Platelet Ratio Index (APRI) is now emerging as an additional calculated parameter to substantiate LFTs. This research article presents the association found between individual LFTs and APRI, and good association was found between liver specific tests and APRI, suggesting that APRI could be included as an additional diagnostically useful parameter for routine clinical use for the diagnosis of liver diseases.