Jk. Stoller et al., PREVALENCE AND REVERSIBILITY OF THE HEPATOPULMONARY SYNDROME AFTER LIVER-TRANSPLANTATION THE CLEVELAND CLINIC EXPERIENCE, Western journal of medicine, 163(2), 1995, pp. 133-138
To ascertain the prevalence and reversibility of the hepatopulmonary s
yndrome, we reviewed the cases of 98 patients undergoing liver transpl
antation at the Cleveland (Ohio) Clinic Foundation from June 1988 thro
ugh July 1992 and identified 4 patients with clinically recognized hep
atopulmonary syndrome (prevalence 4%). All 4 patients ultimately had c
omplete reversal of their disorder. As reviewed herein, the prevalence
of the hepatopulmonary syndrome in the current series is lower than i
n previous reports, possibly reflecting a dependence on its clinical r
ecognition in this series rather than the use of routine screening tes
ts. This report confirms previous experience that the hepatopulmonary
syndrome may be reversible after transplantation.