Abstract
The differential diagnosis of jaundice is often a challenge to the clinician, and in recent years numerous laboratory tests have been proposed. In an analysis of 200 cases of jaundice, Berkowitz 1 found an overall diagnostic accuracy of 76% with only a 33% accuracy in cases with intrahepatic obstruction. Steroids and corticotropin were found to be effective in lowering the concentration of serum bilirubin in patients with acute viral hepatitis associated with features suggesting biliary obstruction. Hence it has been suggested that these drugs can be beneficially used under such circumstances as a diagnostic test. Evaluation of the corticotropin (ACTH) test in the differential diagnosis of jaundice 2 indicated that this four-day test has a limited usefulness because it shows a moderate overlap between patients with medical and surgical jaundice. More recently, Summerskill et al 3 found that a 40% decrease in serum bilirubin concentration occurred in four to six
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