[Observations of respiratory function in advanced liver cirrhosis]

The respiratory function in 24 patients with liver cirrhosis (21 of them with ascites) was examined. A moderate hypoxemia was established as well as hypocapnia and high alveolar-aterial gradient for O2 pressure. The rest of the indices for gas and blood distribution in lungs do not reveal considerable deviations from the norm. The results obtained provide grounds that the manifested alveolar-arterial gradient for O2 pressure and the light to moderate hypoxemia in advanced liver cirrhosis are due mainly to increased right-left shunt and probably to increased number of alveoli with the ventilation/profusion ration equal to zero. The pathogenetic mechanism of the disturbances of gas metabolism in liver cirrhosis differ from that in chronic obstructive lung disease, characterized by manifested heterogenicity of the ventilation/perfusion raton.