Role of ascitic endocan level in diagnosis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in patients with cirrhotic ascites

Abstract

Objective To explore the role of ascitic endocan level in the diagnosis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) in the patients with cirrhotic ascites. Methods A total of 161 ascitic patients with decompensated cirrhosis admitted to our hospital from January 2018 to June 2019 were recruited in this study, and 35 of them suffered from SBP and served as SBP group, and the other 126 as non-SBP group. Ascitic samples were obtained at admission. Demographic data and laboratory parameters were collected. The ascitic endocan level was measured by ELISA. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the independent influencing factors for SBP, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to analyze the diagnostic value of ascitic endocan level for SBP. Results The level of ascitic endocan was significantly higher in the SBP group than the non-SBP group. Logistic regression analysis showed that the ascitic endocan level was an independent risk factor for SBP (OR=1.008, 95%CI: 1.004~1.012, P < 0.001). The result of ROC curve indicated that the area under the curve (AUC) of ascitic endocan was 0.822 (P < 0.001), and the sensitivity was 88.57% and the specificity was 70.63% when the cut-off value was 280.983 pg/mL. The AUCs of ascitic endocan for the diagnosis of SBP were 0.852 and 0.789 respectively in the patients older or equal to 60 and younger than 60 years. Conclusion The ascitic endocan level is an independent risk factor for SBP in patients with cirrhotic ascites, and may serve as a valuable biomarker for diagnosis of SBP, especially in those aged 60 or older.

Keywords

• cirrhosis
• ascites
• endocan
• diagnosis
• spontaneous bacterial peritonitis