Abstract
Most patients with alpha(1) antitrypsin deficiency do not receive this diagnosis until developing severe complications, in particular when respiratory symptoms are absent. This is a reason for making alpha(1) antitrypsin deficiency a possible diagnosis among patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis or other conditions of liver disease without a clear etiology. In this report, a case of cryptogenic cirrhosis is presented, showing the role of serum protein electrophoresis in the diagnosis, which was made before liver biopsy. Therefore, the possibility of using a typical pattern of serum protein electrophoresis as a surrogate for liver biopsy in alpha(1) antitrypsin deficiency is discussed.