Pulmonary vascular complications of chronic liver disease: Pathophysiology, imaging, and treatment

Ali Nawaz Khan; Hamdan Al-Jahdali; Khalid Abdullah; Klaus L Irion; Quratulain Sabih; Alaa Gouda

doi:10.4103/1817-1737.78412

Pulmonary vascular complications of chronic liver disease: Pathophysiology, imaging, and treatment

Ann Thorac Med. 2011 Apr;6(2):57-65. doi: 10.4103/1817-1737.78412.

Authors

Ali Nawaz Khan¹, Hamdan Al-Jahdali, Khalid Abdullah, Klaus L Irion, Quratulain Sabih, Alaa Gouda

Affiliation

¹ North Manchester General Hospital, Manchester, Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, UK.

Abstract

To review the pathogenesis of pulmonary vascular complications of liver disease, we discuss their clinical implications, and therapeutic considerations, with emphasis on potential reversibility of the hepatopulmonary syndrome after liver transplantation. In this review, we also discuss the role of imaging in pulmonary vascular complications associated with liver disease.

Keywords: Hepatopulmonary syndrome; Yttrium-90 microsphere embolization hepatocellular carcinoma; portopulmonary hypertension; pulmonary arteriovenous shunts.