Adult nephrotic syndrome with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis

The association of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis with nephrotic syndrome is common in children, but it is extremely rare in adults. Only 14 cases have been reported in the literature. We report two adult cases who developed spontaneous bacterial peritonitis during a course of nephrotic syndrome, and describe the clinical and laboratory findings. Both patients had renal failure at admission and had a diagnosis of nephrotic syndrome due to amyloidosis before the development of peritonitis. The causative agent could not be isolated from ascitic fluid culture in either patient.