Use of Ascetic Fluid Cholesterol as a Marker to Differentiate between Types of Ascetic Fluid

Abstract

Background:- Cholesterol is high in ascetic fluid due
to malignancy and other causes of exudates.
Objective:-To use cholesterol as a marker to
differentiate between exudative and transudative
ascetic fluid and to compare that with other routine
parameters.
Methods:-Twenty eight patients were included in this
study 17 females with mean age of 41.9 years, 11
males with mean age of 48.2 years. The patients were
divided in group I suspected transudate, and group II
suspected exudate according to history and clinical
examination.
Ascetic fluid samples were sent for total protein,
albumin, and cholesterol measurement blood samples
were sent for serum protein and albumin measurement.
Results:-In this study ascetic fluid cholesterol was fit
with history and clinical examination to differentiate
between exudative and transudative ascetic fluid.
Cholesterol was a good marker when compared with
ascetic fluid total protein and ascetic serum protein
ratio in group I, but not in the others.
Conclusion: - cholesterol can be used as a marker for
the diagnosis of a cites cases but a large number of
patients is important for accurate results