Prevalence and risk factors of lymphatic dysfunction in cirrhosis patients with refractory ascites: An often unconsidered mechanism

Table 1 Clinical and laboratory characteristics of study population at baseline, n (%)

Parameters	n = 155
Age in yr, mean ± SD	49.0 ± 13.1
Male	119 (77.0)
Etiology of cirrhosis
Alcohol	58 (37.4)
Hepatitis B	23 (14.8)
Hepatitis C	7 (4.5)
NASH	55 (35.4)
Others	14 (9.0)
Duration of RA in mo, median (range)	5 (-48)
MELD scores, median (range)	18.1 ± 8.6, 17(6-42)
Child-Pugh score, mean ± SD	10.3 ± 1.8
Diabetes mellitus	27 (17.4)
Hypertension	12 (7.7)
Corrected body mass index in kg/m2, mean ± SD	20.25 ± 3.40
Obesity	16 (10.3)
Chronic kidney disease	9 (5.8)
Serum total bilirubin in mg/dL, median (range)	2.7 (0.3-28.5)
Serum AST, median (range) U/L	60 (18-672)
Serum ALT, median (range) U/L	32 (4-250)
Serum total protein, mean ± SD mg/dL	5.8 ± 0.7
Serum albumin, mean ± SD mg/dL	2.5 ± 0.5
Hypoproteinemia	42 (27.0%)
INR, median (range)	1.6 (0.4-6.7)
Serum sodium, mean ± SD meq/L	130.0 ± 6.5
Serum potassium, mean ± SD meq/L	4.07 ± 2.40
Serum urea in mg/dL, median (range)	34 (12-191)
Creatinine in mg/dL, median (range)	0.9 (0.3-3.7)
Hemoglobin in g/dL, mean ± SD	8.8 (4.2-65.0)
Total leukocyte count as /cmm, median (range)	6130 (1750-34300)
Lymphocytopenia	72 (46.5)
Esophageal varices
None	3 (1.9)
Small grade	92 (59.4)
Large grade	60 (38.0)
PHG
Mild	118 (76.0)
Severe	35 (22.6)
PHD	31 (20.0)
Ascitic fluid analysis
Cell count as /µL, median (range)	100 (0-11200)
Protein median in gm/dL, median (range)	1.1 (0.1-3.5)
ADA in U/L, median (range)	10 (1-33)
Triglycerides in mg/dL, median (range)	19.5 (0-224.0)
SAAG, median (range)	2.0 (1.2-4.0)

ADA: Adenosine deaminase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; cmm: Cubic millimeter; INR: International normalized ratio; MELD: Model for end-stage liver disease; NASH: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis; PHG: Portal hypertensive gastropathy; PHD: Portal hypertensive duodenopathy; RA: Refractory ascites; SAAG: Serum ascites albumin gradient.