Biochemical Markers of Ascitic Fluid to Differentiate Ovarian Cancer from Liver Cirrhosis Patients

ABSTRACT Introduction: The pathological accumulation of abdominal fluid (ascites) is due to multiple causes often associated either with peritoneal and non-peritoneal diseases. The differential diagnosis of the above patients is made by biochemical, cytological and imagological methods. Aim: The present study was conducted in serum and ascitic fluid to estimate the levels of Cholesterol, Triglycerides, SATG and SACG along with SAAG to differentiate ascitic patients of ovarian cancer from liver cirrhosis. Materials and Methods: The present prospective cross-sectional study was carried out between December 2016 and June 2019 in the Department of Gastroenterology, Osmania General Hospital, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. A total of 375 ascitic patients, (230 patients with liver cirrhosis, 145 ovarian cancer) and 150 age and sex-matched healthy volunteers (hospital working staff and patient’s attendant) were enrolled in this study. Serum and ascitic fluid concentrations of Total proteins Total Proteins (TP), Albumin (ALB), Cholesterol (CHOL) and Triglycerides (TG) were measured by standard methods using the autoanalyzer. Serum Ascitic Albumin Gradient (SAAG), Serum Ascitic Cholesterol Gradient (SACG) and Serum Ascitic Triglycerides Gradient (SATG) were derived by the calculation method. The statistical analysis was conducted by one-way ANOVA; SPSS (version 22). A p-value