A 63-year-old man with a long history of alcohol abuse presents with ascites. He is experiencing mild abdominal discomfort and nausea. Examination reveals tense ascites and generalized tenderness but no rigidity. A diagnostic paracentesis of the fluid is performed. Which of the following ascitic fluid results is most likely to suggest an uncomplicated ascites due to portal hypertension from cirrhosis?
hemorrhage
protein >25 g/L
bilirubin level twice that of serum
serum to ascites albumin gradient > 1.1 g/dL
Ascitic fluid in uncomplicated cirrhosis of the liver shows a specific gravity < 1.016. Protein is < 25 g/L, and the gross appearance is straw-colored. In spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, the fluid may be cloudy and the number of white cells (neutrophils) increased. In uncomplicated ascites, the difference between plasma albumin and ascitic fluid albumin is > 1.1 g/dL.
G.I.T.