Publication date: Jul 01, 2026
Abnormal liver function tests (LFTs) are frequently performed in Emergency Departments (EDs); however, the systematic characterization of age-dependent clinical phenotypes and pathogen associations remains limited. Here we aimed to identify the distinct clinical presentations and pathogen-specific associations of pediatric and adult ED visits for abnormal LFTs. This retrospective cohort study analyzed 26,874 ED visits for abnormal LFTs in South Korea’s National Emergency Department Information System (2019-2023). Patients were stratified into pediatric (0-18 years) and adult (19-64 years) groups. We characterized the clinical presentations, concurrent diagnoses, temporal correlations with infectious pathogens, and metabolic comorbidity patterns. The ED visits included 3,152 pediatric (11. 7%) and 23,722 adult patients (88. 3%). Pediatric presentations demonstrated fever-predominant profiles (47. 3%), respiratory symptoms (6. 4%), and infectious disease diagnoses (39. 8%) as well as temporal correlations with respiratory viruses (rhinovirus, r=0. 30; adenovirus, r=0. 28; P
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Age factors | |
| Communicable diseases | |
| Emergency service | |
| Liver function tests | |
| Metabolic syndrome |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | Emergency |
| disease | MESH | included |
| disease | MESH | fever |
| disease | MESH | infectious disease |
| pathway | REACTOME | Infectious disease |
| disease | MESH | Metabolic syndrome |