[en] The causes for the disturbance of hydro-electrolytic equilibrium observed in cirrhosis patients are far from clear. Studies on the static distribution of liquid in the organism and also on anomalies in the distribution of deuterium oxide and tritiated water provide no direct explanation of the nature of the water retaining mechanism. At the period when the illness is established, endocrine factors and electrolytic perturbations contribute to maintaining or increasing oliguresis, but they cannot be held solely responsible in the initial stages of evolution. An explanation of the ascites should therefore be looked for in a non-functioning of the polygonal or Kupffer cells. The hypothesis of an insufficient rejection of water outside the lymph spaces of the liver during cirrhosis is put forward, but the experimental demonstration of such a phenomenon proves very difficult. (author)