Investigation of Endotoxin Positivity in Ascites at the Time of Cell-free and Concentrated Ascites Re-infusion Therapy.

Objective The presence of endotoxin (ET) in ascites at the time of cell-free and concentrated ascites reinfusion therapy (CART) is generally assessed in patients with infectious disease status, but the exact rate of ET positivity in ascites for patients treated with CART is unknown. Methods We evaluated ET levels in ascites at the time of CART, regardless of the presence of infectious symptoms. The analysis was performed for 529 cases in 183 patients in whom ET levels in ascites were measured at 2 time points (pre- and post-processing).