Abstract
Author(s): Shaikh Mahmood, Badruz Zama, Mohammed Abdul Hannan Hazari*
Background: Ascites is one of the major complications of liver cirrhosis which usually develop secondary to portal hypertension.
Aim: The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the utility of ratios of few biochemical parameters between serum and ascetic fluid, whether these ratios are more reliable than the actual parameters in diagnosis and prognosis of these patients.
Study design: Cross-sectional study.
Place and duration of study: Owaisi Hospital and Research Centre, Hyderabad, India from July 2012 to December 2013.
Methodology: Biochemical analysis of serum and ascetic fluid focussed on assessing liver function was done. A total of 350 cirrhotic patients of both genders were screened for ascites and 50 among them fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled for this study. They were assessed for 34 demographic and laboratory parameters including liver function tests, renal function tests and serum electrolytes. We made an attempt to know whether ratio of some of the biochemical parameters in ascitic fluid-to-serum (AF/S) can be more reliable indicators and better prognostic markers in liver cirrhosis with ascites.
Results and Conclusion: In this endeavour, the AF/S ratios of total proteins, albumin, ADA, LDH, GGT and α-amylase did not showed a clear advantage over the existing biochemical analysis in vogue.