Reye's Syndrome - Diagnosis

Diagnosis of Reye's syndrome is often based on the patient's pattern of illness. The patient may have been ill with a viral disease and then gotten better. If the symptoms described above then suddenly appear, Reye's syndrome may be suspected.

Confirmation of this diagnosis can be made with a blood test. The test is designed to look for certain liver enzymes. Enzymes are chemicals in the body that change the rate at which reactions take place in cells. When an organ is diseased, the number of enzymes present may increase dramatically. The blood test for Reye's syndrome involves measuring changes in liver enzymes.

Children under the age of nineteen who take aspirin to treat a viral infection have an increased risk of contracting Reye's syndrome. (Photograph by

Robert Huffman

. Reproduced by permission of

Field Mark Publications

.)