Prognostic Value of Antithrombin III in Cirrhosis of the Liver-Reply

—We confirm the findings of Monreal concerning the utility of antithrombin III determinations in evaluating the severity of liver damage. Recently, in a prospective study, we have compared the prognostic value of antithrombin III, fibrinogen, prothrombin time, cholesterol, albumin, and aminopyrine breath test (ABT) determinations in 156 patients with liver disease. The degree of severity was established on the basis of the results from the liver biopsy specimen and on the Child classification of patients with cirrhosis. 1 The prognostic significance of the different parameters considered was established by examination of the death rate during hospitalization. Our results showed the following: Cholesterol, albumin, and fibrinogen levels did not reflect the degree of liver damage. Antithrombin III and ABT values were significantly lower in cirrhosis than in steatosis and steatofibrosis. Moreover, their values in subjects with Child class C cirrhosis were significantly lower than in subjects with Child class A cirrhosis.