Hepatopulmonary syndrome: a case report

Huurnink A, Van den Berg CHSB, Booij J. Hepatopulmonary syndrome: a case report. Hepatopulmonary syndrome is characterised by a lowered oxygenation caused by intrapulmonary vascular dilatation in the setting of a liver disease. We present a case of a 42-year old woman with a Budd-Chiari syndrome, who developed persistent hypoxemia. A lung perfusion scintigraphy with 99 Tc-labelled macroaggregated albumin nicely illustrated the presence of a right-left shunt with increased radioactivity in the brain, thyroid and kidneys. Semi-quantification of the hemi-whole body images resulted in a calculated right-left shunt fraction of 20-25%. The patiënt was diagnosed with a hepatopulmonary syndrome due to her liver disease. Tijdschr. Nucl Geneesk 2015;37(1): 1371-1374