{"id":25545,"date":"2019-09-01T18:28:34","date_gmt":"2019-09-01T22:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/?page_id=25545"},"modified":"2025-03-21T23:00:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T03:00:21","slug":"interventional-radiology-procedures-paracentesis-establishing-etiology-with-the-serum-ascites-albumin-gradient-saag","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/?page_id=25545","title":{"rendered":"Radiology Procedures: Paracentesis (Establishing Etiology With The Serum-Ascites Albumin Gradient, SAAG)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Page Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#OVERVIEW\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">1<\/span> OVERVIEW<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#HOW_IS_THE_SAAG_CALCULATED\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">2<\/span> HOW IS THE SAAG CALCULATED?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#WHAT_DOES_LOW_SAAG_lt_11_gdL_MEAN\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">3<\/span> WHAT DOES LOW SAAG (&lt; 1.1 g\/dL) MEAN?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#WHAT_DOES_HIGH_SAAG_gt_11_gdL_MEAN\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">4<\/span> WHAT DOES HIGH SAAG (&gt; 1.1 g\/dL) MEAN?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<h5><span id=\"OVERVIEW\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">OVERVIEW<\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>Analyzing the fluid sent from a paracentesis can have much diagnostic utility, especially because in many instances the indication of the paracentesis is to to uncover why a patient has ascites.<\/p>\n<p>One of the initial characterizations of the ascites fluid that can be made to help diagnose the underlying cause of the ascites is the serum-ascites albumin gradient (SAAG). This page will discuss a bit more about how this gradient is calculated and its significance.<\/p>\n<h5><span id=\"HOW_IS_THE_SAAG_CALCULATED\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">HOW IS THE SAAG CALCULATED?<\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>The calculation of the SAAG is actually quite simple, and literally refers to the difference between the concentration of the albumin in the serum and the ascites. To calculate it, after the serum albumin value and ascites albumin values are calculated by the lab (in g\/dL) the albumin concentration in the ascites will be subtracted from the serum albumin.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/DEcSdBOWAAAI5H-.jpg\">Here is a online calculator from MD Calc that will help make this calculation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A SAAG of <strong>&gt;<\/strong> 1.1 g\/dL signifies that the albumin concentration in the in the ascites is <strong>LOW<\/strong>, and suggests a specific differential with regards to the underlying diagnosis.<\/p>\n<p>SAAG of <strong>&lt;<\/strong> 1.1 g\/dL signifies that the albumin concentration in the in the ascites is <strong>HIGH<\/strong>, and suggests a different differential with regards to the underlying diagnosis.<\/p>\n<h5><span id=\"WHAT_DOES_LOW_SAAG_lt_11_gdL_MEAN\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">WHAT DOES LOW SAAG (&lt; 1.1 g\/dL) MEAN?<\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>A low SAAG means that the albumin concentration in the ascites is high relative to the serum concentration. Most clearly this suggests that portal hypertension is <strong>NOT <\/strong>\u00a0responsible for the patient&#8217;s ascites and that other diagnosis should strongly be considered.<\/p>\n<h5><span id=\"WHAT_DOES_HIGH_SAAG_gt_11_gdL_MEAN\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">WHAT DOES HIGH SAAG (&gt; 1.1 g\/dL) MEAN?<\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>A high SAAG means that the albumin concentration in the ascites lis low relative to the serum concentration. Most clearly this suggests that portal hypertension like is the cause of the patient&#8217;s ascites.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<pre>Page Updated: 09.01.2019<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Page Contents1 OVERVIEW2 HOW IS THE SAAG CALCULATED?3 WHAT DOES LOW SAAG (&lt; 1.1 g\/dL) MEAN?4 WHAT DOES HIGH SAAG (&gt; 1.1 g\/dL) MEAN? OVERVIEW Analyzing the fluid sent from a paracentesis can have much diagnostic utility, especially because in many instances the indication of the paracentesis is to to uncover why a patient has &#8230; <a title=\"Radiology Procedures: Paracentesis (Establishing Etiology With The Serum-Ascites Albumin Gradient, SAAG)\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/?page_id=25545\" aria-label=\"More on Radiology Procedures: Paracentesis (Establishing Etiology With The Serum-Ascites Albumin Gradient, SAAG)\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":25159,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P71awf-6E1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25545"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25545"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28738,"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25545\/revisions\/28738"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stepwards.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}