BackgroundsIn coeliac disease, the prevalence of liver test abnormalities (LTAs) is higher in patients with more severe mucosal inflammation. In Crohn’s disease, prognosis is related to the severity of mucosal inflammation.AimThe aim of this study was to investigate whether the presence of LTA predicts the occurrence of complicated disease behaviour in newly diagnosed Crohn’s disease.MethodsA retrospective cohort study was performed in patients newly diagnosed with Crohn’s disease between 2002 and 2011. The complicated disease was defined as the occurrence of stricturing and/or perforating disease. LTAs were defined as a value of any of alkaline phosphatase (AP), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), or alanine aminotransferase (ALT) over the upper limit of normal.ResultsThree hundred eighty-three patients were included, of whom 34.1% had LTA. LTAs were mostly mild (less than two times the upper limit of normal). During the 5-year follow-up, 33.1% of patients in the group with LTA developed complicated disease behaviour compared to 14.6% in patients without LTA (p < 0.001). The presence of LTA was identified as a risk factor for complicated disease behaviour (HR 2.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5–4.2, p < 0.0001).ConclusionsIn newly diagnosed Crohn’s disease, the presence of LTA was an independent risk factor for the development of complicated disease behaviour.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00384-016-2706-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.