Analysis of early warning indicators of tuberculous peritonitis in patients with cirrhotic ascites

Objective To analyze the early warning indicators of tuberculous peritonitis (TBP) in patients with cirrhotic ascites.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 62 patients with cirrhotic ascites hospitalized in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from January 2010 to December 2012.The chi- square test and Mann- Whitney U test were used for univariate analysis, while the logistic regression model was used for multivariate analysis.Results There were significant differences between TBP group and non- TBP group in sex, history of primary peritonitis, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) , serum tuberculosis antibody, percentage of lymphocytes in ascites (≥50%) , and prothrombin activity (PTA) (P < 0.05 for all) .The odds ratios (ORs) of history of primary peritonitis, PTA, ESR, and percentage of lymphocytes in ascites (≥50%) for development of TBP in patients with cirrhotic ascites were 1.933, 3.205, 2.716, and 11.701, respectively (P < 0.05 for all) , and the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve were 0.831, 0.815, 0.775, and 0.935, respectively (P < 0.05 for all) .Conclusion History of primary peritonitis, PTA, ESR, and percentage of lymphocytes in ascites (≥50%) are the early warning indicators of TBP in patients with cirrhotic ascites;these early warning indicators, especially percentage of lymphocytes in ascites (≥50%) , have good predictive values.