Skip to main content
Download PDF

A case of hepatopulmonary syndrome

Echo Research & Practice volume 2, pages K25–K27 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

This report presents the case of a 42-year-old man with liver cirrhosis who presents with breathlessness. Initial investigations are unable to explain his persistent hypoxia and a diagnosis of hepatopulmonary syndrome is considered. Saline contrast echocardiography is utilised in confirming the diagnosis. Details of this case as well as practicalities in performing and interpreting saline contrast echocardiography are reviewed.

References

  1. Grace JA, Angus PW 2013 Hepatopulmonary syndrome: update on recent advances in pathophysiology, investigations, and treatment. Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 28 213–219. (doi:10.1111/jgh.12061)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Lenci I, Alvior A, Manzia TM, Toti L, Neuberger J, Steeds R 2009 Saline contrast echocardiography in patients with hepatopulmonary syndrome awaiting liver transplant. Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography 22 89–94. (doi:10.1016/j.echo.2008.09.020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Rodriguez-Roisin R, Krowka MJ 2008 Hepatopulmonary syndrome–a liver-induced lung vascular disorder. New England Journal of Medicine 358 2378 (doi:10.1056/NEJMra0707185)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Rollan MJ, Munoz AC, Perez T, Bratos JL 2007 Value of contrast echocardiography for the diagnosis of hepatopulmonary syndrome. European Journal of Echocardiography 8 408–410. (doi:10.1016/j.euje.2006.07.005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Khabbaza JE, Krasuski RA, Tonelli AR 2013 Intrapulmonary shunt confirmed by intracardiac echocardiography in the diagnosis of hepatopulmonary syndrome. Hepatology 58 1514–1515. (doi:10.1002/hep.26482)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Miki K, Shinohara T, Ogushi F, Sone S, Yamada H, Oishi Y, Wakatsuki T, Ito S, Yogita S, Tashiro S 2000 Hepatopulmonary syndrome-discussion of cardiopulmonary parameters. Journal of Medical Investigation 47 164–169.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Cartin-Ceba R, Swanson KL, Krowka MJ 2013 Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations. Chest 144 1033–1044. (doi:10.1378/chest.12-0924)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Schoepdf UJ 2006 Pulmonary artery CTA. Techniques in Vascular and Interventional Radiology 9 180–191. (doi:10.1053/j.tvir.2007.03.004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Stewart MJ 2003 Contrast echocardiography. Heart 89 342–348. (doi:10.1136/heart.89.3.342)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Slim J, McNear J, Beck R, Saad R, Alvarez J, Slim A 2011 Platypnea–orthodeoxia: an unusual case of hypoxemia. Case Reports in Cardiology 2011 article 104653 (doi:10.1155/2011/104653)

Download references

Funding

This case report did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grantham and District Hospital, Lincolnshire, UK

    James Offer, Lawrence Green, Andrew R. Houghton & Jim Campbell

Authors
  1. James Offer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lawrence Green
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Andrew R. Houghton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jim Campbell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to James Offer.

Rights and permissions

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the articles Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the articles Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Offer, J., Green, L., Houghton, A.R. et al. A case of hepatopulmonary syndrome. Echo Res Pract 2, K25–K27 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1530/ERP-14-0100

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1530/ERP-14-0100

Echo Research & Practice

ISSN: 2055-0464