Quantification of ascites based on abdomino-pelvic computed tomography scans for predicting the in-hospital mortality of liver cirrhosis

Ascites is among the most common complications of liver cirrhosis and is associated with a high mortality rate. The present retrospective study aimed to evaluate the potential correlation between in-hospital mortality of liver cirrhosis and volume of ascites. Patients with liver cirrhosis who were admitted to the General Hospital of Shenyang Military Region (Shenyang, China) between June 2012 and June 2014 and underwent axial abdomino-pelvic computed tomography (CT) scans were retrospectively reviewed. The volume of ascites was approximated using a five-point method, and diagnostic accuracy was expressed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROCs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Of the 177 patients reviewed in the present study, 117 (61.10%) exhibited ascites on CT scans, and the in-hospital mortality rate was 4.52% (8/177). Child-Pugh and model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) scores were significantly increased in the presence of ascites (P<0.001). The in-hospital mortality rate did not differ significantly between patients with and without ascites (P=0.052). In patients with ascites >300 ml (n=72), the AUROCs of the Child-Pugh score, MELD score, and ascites volume for predicting in-hospital mortality were 0.939 (95% CI, 0.856–0982), 0.952 (95% CI, 0.873–0.988), and 0.782 (95% CI, 0.668–0.871), respectively. These AUROCs did not differ significantly. In conclusion, quantification of ascites may aid to predict the in-hospital mortality rate of cirrhotic patients.