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World J Hepatol. Feb 27, 2018; 10(2): 254-266
Published online Feb 27, 2018. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v10.i2.254
Spontaneous bacterial and fungal peritonitis in patients with liver cirrhosis: A literature review
Toru Shizuma
Toru Shizuma, Department of Physiology, Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara 2591193, Japan
Author contributions: Shizuma T prepared the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interests to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Toru Shizuma, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Tokai University School of Medicine, 143, Shimokasuya, Isehara, Kanagawa 2591193, Japan. shizuma@is.icc.u-tokai.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-463-931121 Fax: +81-463-936684
Received: November 28, 2017
Peer-review started: November 28, 2017
First decision: December 18, 2017
Revised: December 31, 2017
Accepted: January 23, 2018
Article in press: January 23, 2018
Published online: February 27, 2018
Processing time: 96 Days and 9.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Spontaneous bacterial (SBP) and spontaneous fungal peritonitis (SFP) are infectious complications in patients with liver cirrhosis (LC). Renal impairment, severity of underlying liver dysfunction, and infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) organisms are associated with a fatal prognosis in SBP. Antibiotic prophylaxis is recommended for patients with LC and with a high risk of developing SBP, gastrointestinal bleeding, or a previous episode of SBP, but the increase in the risk of infections caused by MDR organisms is of concern. Increased mortality of SFP compared with that of SBP may partially result from delayed diagnosis and starting of antifungal therapy.