Diagnosis of peritoneal tuberculosis among cases of ascites in children by estimation of ADA in ascitic fluid and serum

ABSTRACT

Peritoneal tuberculosis is still a very important cause of ascites in Egypt. This study used the estimation of adenosine deaminase [ADA] activity in ascitic fluid of variable etiology as a diagnostic aid in peritoneal tuberculosis. Simultaneous estimation of serum and ascitic fluid ADA level was done with subsequent calculation of the ratio [A/S] between them. A value above 50 U/L in ascitic fluid is highly suspicious for TB if other causes of ascites with false positive results [e.g. malignancy] are excluded. A value of more than 60 U/l in ascitic fluid can be considered a cut off point and values above this would clearly denote tuberculosis. Ascitic fluid /serum ADA ratio above 3 is also diagnostic for peritoneal TB