Serum Endocan Levels In Patients with Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Professor of Hepatology, Gastroenterology and Infectious Diseases Faculty of Medicine- Benha University

2 Fellow of Hepatology, Gastroenterology and Infectious Diseases Faculty of Medicine- Benha University

3 MBBCH

4 Lecturer of Clinical and Chemical Pathology Faculty of Medicine- Benha University

Abstract

Background: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is a common severe complication in patients with liver cirrhosis. Endocan is a proteoglycan (PG) secreted by vascular endothelium,its serum level is elevated with an inflammatory or a malignant process. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of serum endocan levels to identify patient with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. Methodologies: A total of 83 patients with cirrhotic ascites were included in the study.41 of them had SBP . The severity of liver cirrhosis was assessed using the Child-Pugh score, the Model for End Stage Liver Disease (MELD), and its update (uMELD) scores . Ascetic fluid samples were collected for leucocytic count differentiation, albumin, glucose estimation, and the serum-ascetic albumin gradient. . If the polymorph-nuclear leucocytic count in ascetic fluid was moreless than 250/mm3, SBP was diagnosed. Results: The serum endocan level was significantly higher in patients with SBP ROC analysis of serum endocan as a marker for SBP diagnosis revealed: sensitivity of 88.9%, specificity of 61.5% , and area under curve (AUC) of 0.792 at a cut-off value of 67.1(pg/ml). Conclusion: Although endocan level was higher in serum of SBP patients, it can not be used as adiagnostic marker in SBP.

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