Last decade witnessed the increasing use of serum levels of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) as a highly specific and sensitive marker of chronic alcoholism. This paper deals with the explanation of the physiological principle of the test and the development of laboratory techniques of CDT measurement. The evaluation of the state-of-art of CDT tests is based on published data as well as on the practical experience of the author with three commercial diagnostic kits. The second part of the review article draws attention to some still open questions of how to harmonise the different methodologies used. The use of the CDT measurement in various clinical settings, the specificity and sensitivity of CDT in different population samples and/or in comparison with already established markers such as GGT is discussed.

        Key words: alcoholism, carbohydrate-deficient transferrin, methodology, clinical use