Hepatopulmonary syndrome in noncirrhotic patients with chronic viral hepatitis

• Published in: The Egyptian Journal of Bronchology Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 175 - 180
• Main Authors: El-Habashy, Mahmoud M., Khamis, Ahmed A., Kamel, Mahmoud, Essa, Abdallah, Shehab-Eldin, Walid, Shaban, Mohamed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.12.2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Hepatitis; Liver diseases; Medicine & Public Health; Original Article; hypoxemia; hepatopulmonary syndrome; portal hypertension
• ISSN: 1687-8426; 2314-8551
• DOI: 10.4103/1687-8426.145728

Background Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is hypoxemia and functional intrapulmonary right-to-left shunts in patients with liver disease. It is a well-known complication of liver cirrhosis, portal hypertension, and acute liver failure. Aim The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which pulmonary functions were affected and the possible existence of HPS in noncirrhotic patients with chronic viral hepatitis. Patients and methods Lung function tests were carried out on 60 patients with chronic viral hepatitis (43 with hepatitis C and 17 with hepatitis B). All hypoxemic patients or patients with reduced diffusion capacity were subjected to contrast echocardiography to demonstrate intrapulmonary shunting. Results Twelve patients showed pulmonary dysfunction. Only seven of 60 patients (11.67%) showed hypoxemia. Intrapulmonary shunting was observed in three of those 12 patients. Two of these patients fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of HPS. Conclusion HPS exists in some patients with chronic viral hepatitis and is thus not restricted to patients with end-stage liver disease. Egypt J Broncho 2014 8:175–180