On the basis of previous work, our own experience and findings, and the considerations discussed above, we propose a set of four diagnostic criteria for the hepatopulmonary syndrome: 1. presence of chronic hepatic disease (alcoholic, postnecrotic, or primary biliary cirrhosis or active chronic hepatitis)--severe liver dysfunction may not be mandatory; 2. absence of intrinsic cardiopulmonary dis...

"How diseases of the liver affect lung function?" is one of those puzzling questions that can turn obsessive for those who want to understand how two seemingly distinctive organs can interact and eventually lead to severe disorders [1, 2]. The most common respiratory consequence of liver disease is hypoxaemia, which is often mild to moderate [3]. Seldom severe hypoxaemia occurs when the arteria...

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of Hepatopulmonary Syndrome (HPS) in patients with cirrhosis of the liver. STUDY DESIGN Observational cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore, from April 2005 to March 2006. PATIENTS AND METHODS Fifty consecutive patients admitted with liver cirrhosis were recruited...

BACKGROUND Cardiac and pulmonary complications can occur in patients with advanced liver disease. CASE PRESENTATION A woman her fifties diagnosed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which progressed four years later to decompensated failure due cirrhosis. She was admitted the hospital ascites pleural effusion more than 10 times over course of one year, accepted for transplantation. After spen...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the correlation between radiologic vascular dilatation and serum nitrite concentration and eNOS expression in the endothelial cell and pneumocyte in a rabbit model of hepatopulmonary syndrome induced by common bile duct ligation (CBDL). MATERIALS AND METHODS Thin-section CT scans of the lung and pulmonary angiography were obtained 3 weeks after CBDL (n = 6), or a sham...