Therefore, I will recommend surgery only if the risk associated with surgery is less than the risk of continuing with medical management. There is always a small risk the dog may not make it through anesthesia/surgery, is permanently worse, or never improves.
1 The blood tests most frequently used for liver disease are the aminotransferases (alanine aminotransferase or ALT and aspartate aminotransferase or AST). 2  Normal levels of ALT ranges from about 7-56 units/liter, and 10-40units/liters for AST.
Liver enzyme tests, formerly called liver function tests (LFTs), are a group of blood tests that detect inflammation and damage to the liver. They can also check how well the liver is working.iver tests check the blood for two main liver enzymes: 1  Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), formerly called SGOT; the AST enzyme is also found in muscles and many other tissues besides the liver. 2  Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), formerly called SGPT; ALT is almost exclusively found in the liver.