Ascitic Calprotectin, as a new marker of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP)

Abstract

Liver cirrhosis is the clinical end-stage of different entities of chronic liver disease when patients suffer from substantial mortality and morbidity, both of which are positively correlated with disease severity. Ascites is the most common complication, and around 60% of patients with compensated cirrhosis develop ascites within 10 years of disease onset (Ali and Mohamed, 2019). Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in cirrhotic patients with ascites. SBP is estimated to affect 10%-30% of cirrhotic patients hospitalized with ascites, and mortality in this group approaches 30%. Many of these patients are asymptomatic, and it is therefore recommended that all patients with ascites undergo paracentesis at the time of admission to confirm the SBP status. Although SBP is less prevalent in an outpatient setting, it is reasonable to also evaluate the ascitic fluid of outpatients because of the high mortality associated with SBP (Ali and Mohamed, 2019). This study was designed as a case-control study for evaluation of ascitic calprotectin as a diagnostic & prognostic test for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. The study was conducted on 50 patients attended internal medicine department