The hepatopulmonary syndrome: NO way out?

The hepatopulmonary syndrome: NO way out?

"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...

No Way out 1 the Timeless Trap

The Hepatopulmonary Syndrome

INTRODUCTION The hepatopulmonary syndrome has been acknowledged as an important vascular complication in lungs developing systemic hypoxemia in patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension. Is formed by arterial oxygenation abnormalities induced from intrapulmonary vascular dilatations with liver disease. It is present in 4-32% of patients with cirrhosis. It increases mortality in the settin...

[Hepatopulmonary syndrome].

ANAMNESIS We report about a 60-year-old woman with hepatopulmonary syndrome. The patient suffered from progressive dyspnea and liver cirrhosis following viral hepatitis C, acquired through blood transfusion 30 years ago. EXAMINATION RESULTS Remarkable were clinical signs of chronic liver disease (cutaneous spider naevi, palmar erythema) and signs of chronic respiratory failure (clubbing) with...

No Easy Way Out (Or in)

In retrospect, when Jardetzky (1966) published a " simple allosteric model for membrane pumps, " he initiated a conceptual movement away from the (then still) prevailing anthropomorphic view of transporters and pumps as " carriers " in the literal sense, membrane-bound entities that somehow made their way across the membrane, loaded with cargo. The idea of an " alternating access " model (as it...