Abstract:

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the role of sTREM-1 molecule in the diagnosis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in patients with portal type ascites. Material and Method: We included 122 patients with portal type ascites in the study, 58 had infected ascites (peritonitis) (F/M:27/31, mean age 61.6±15.0 years) and 64 had uninfected ascites (F/M:23/41, mean age 63.4±9.4). Complete blood count, albumin, and C-reactive protein (CRP) were defined in the blood samples. Additionally, neutrophil count, albumin, total protein, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and sTREM-1 levels were measured in the peritoneal fluid samples. Results: There were significant differences in ascites neutrophil, serum neutrophil, CRP, ascites LDH, and ascites sTREM-1 levels between two groups. AUC values for ascites neutrophil, serum neutrophil, CRP, and sTREM-1 were 1.0 (95% CI 1.0-1.0), 0.676 (95% CI 0.580-0.771), 0.721 (95% CI 0.632-0.811), and 0.644 (95% CI 0.546-0.74), respectively. In females, sTREM-1 levels were positively correlated with ascites neutrophil, ascites LDH, ascites albumin, ascites total protein levels, and platelet count. Conclusion: Infection of ascites is an important complication of portal hypertension and ascites neutrophil count measurement is the traditional method used for diagnosis. sTREM-1 can be an alternative marker to identify ascites infections, especially in the cases of peritonitis without an increase in neutrophil count.