Table 1.

Causes of ascites according to if associated with peritoneal disease or not.

Without Peritoneal Disease:

Portal hypertension

Cirrhosis

Alcoholic hepatitis

Hepatic congestion

Congestive heart failure

Tricuspid insufficiency

Constrictive pericarditis

Inferior vena cava obstruction

Hepatic vein obstruction (Budd-Chiari syndrome)

Cardiomyopathy

Portal vein occlusion

Thrombosis

Tumor

Idiopathic tropical splenomegaly

Partial nodular transformation

Hypervitaminosis A

Fulminant hepatic failure

Idiopathic

Hypoalbuminemia

Cirrhosis

Nephrotic syndrome

Protein-losing enteropathy

Lymphangiectasia

Severe malnutrition

Miscellaneous

Myxedema

Hepatocellular carcinoma (usually with cirrhosis)

Ovarian disease

Tumor (Meigs' syndrome)

Struma ovarii

Ovarian overstimulation syndrome

Pancreatic ascites

Rupture of pseudocyst

Leak from pancreatic duct

Bile ascites

Gallbladder rupture

Traumatic bile leak

Chylous ascites

Rupture (traumatic, surgical) of abdominal lymphatics

Congenital lymphangiectasia

Obstructed lymphatics (especially secondary to malignancy, tuberculosis, filariasis)

Constrictive pericarditis

Cirrhosis

Sarcoidosis

With Peritoneal Disease:

Infection

Mycobacterial

Bacterial

Primary (spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in cirrhosis)

Secondary (ruptured viscus)

Fungal (rare, especially candidiasis, histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis)

Parasitic (rare, especially schistosomiasis, ascariasis, enterobiasis)

AIDS

Neoplasm

Primary mesothelioma

Metastatic carcinomatosis

Ovarian

Pancreatic

Gastric

Colonic

Lymphoma

Miscellaneous

Peritoneal vasculitides

Systemic lupus erythematosus

Henoch-Schönlein purpura

Köhlmeier-Degos disease

Eosinophilic peritonitis

Familial Mediterranean fever

Pseudomyxoma peritonei

Whipple's disease

Granulomatous peritonitis

Foreign bodies (especially starch)

Sarcoidosis

Gynecologic lesions (especially endometriosis, ruptured dermoid cyst)

Peritoneal lymphangiectasis