Portopulmonary hypertension: distinctive hemodynamic and clinical manifestations

Portopulmonary hypertension is now recognized as one of the pulmonary complications of chronic liver disease. However, previous studies reported that the incidence ranged from 0.25% to 2%, excluding fortuitous coincidence. In this study, we aimed to determine the variant hemodynamic and clinical features of portopulmonary hypertension in an area with a high prevalence of viral cirrhosis. After reviewing the hemodynamic data of 322 patients with portal hypertension admitted to the Taipei Veterans General Hospital between 1987 and 1999, we found 10 with portopulmonary hypertension. The overall incidence was, therefore, 3.1% in all patients with portal hypertension. Most of the patients with portopulmonary hypertension experienced exertional dyspnea. The survival times ranged from 2 to 86 months. In our series, most of the patients who died, died of complications related to cirrhosis and portal hypertension, but not of complications related to pulmonary hypertension. This study suggested that portopulmonary hypertension was not a frequent complication in cirrhotic patients and was not associated with an adverse outcome.