Diagnostic Importance of Ascitic Fluid Cholesterol Level in the Diagnosis of Malignant Ascites

Abstract

In order to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of cholesterol level in ascites, we studied 27 patients with non-complicated sterile ascites (group l), 12 patients with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (group ll), and 17 patients with malignant ascites (group lll). The median cholesterol level in ascitic fluid was 0.44 mmol/L (lQR 0.62) in group l, 0.25 mmol/L (lQR 0.95) in group ll, and 2.61 mmol/L (lQR 2.66) in group lll. The ascitic fluid cholesterol level was significantly higher in malignant ascites than sterile benign ascites and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) (P