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Ascitic Fluid Total Protein, a useful marker in non-portal hypertensive ascites.
J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2019 Jun 27;:
Authors: Zhu S, Du L, Xu D, Lu Z, Xu T, Li J, Xu K, Ye J, Song Y
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Diagnostic performance of ascitic fluid total protein (AFTP) concentration remained unsettled. Our aim was to determine diagnostic value of AFTP in differential diagnosis of causes of ascites.
METHODS: 704 consecutive patients with new-onset ascites were prospectively enrolled in this study.
RESULTS: In the training cohort, diagnostic performance of quantitative AFTP assay was superior to that of Rivalta test in differential diagnosis of ascites. At the pre-determined cut-off value of 25 g/L, quantitative AFTP assay was more useful in the differentiation of non-portal hypertensive ascites from portal hypertensive ascites compared with the exudate-transudate classification, area under curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.958. Quantitative AFTP assay was superior to serum-ascites albumin gradient (SAAG) in the detection of non-portal hypertensive ascites, especially malignant ascites and tuberculous peritonitis. In mixed ascites, AFTP was useful in identifying peritoneal lesions.
CONCLUSIONS: Ascitic fluid total protein is a useful marker in non-portal hypertensive ascites, thus it should be determined in diagnostic workup of the patients with ascites.
PMID: 31247673 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]