Issue: 2005 > December > case report

A severe (type II) hepatopulmonary syndrome in a patient with idiopathic portal hypertension and treatment with paroxetine



CASE REPORT
a. Yilmaz, M. Dursum, F. Canoruc, K. Bayan, A. Karabulut, H. Akay
AbstractPDF

Abstract

The hepatopulmonary syndrome has been defined as
chronic liver disease accompanied by abnormal pulmonary gas exchange, which might result in arterial deoxygenation, and widespread intrapulmonary vasodilation.
Although it has been pointed out that hepatopulmonary
syndrome occurs in liver cirrhosis, there are a few studies in the literature reporting noncirrhotic portal hypertension as a cause of hepatopulmonary syndrome. Currently, liver transplantation is the only effective therapy for such patients. on the other hand, there is also a proposal about considering paroxetine, a potent nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, for use in the hepatopulmonary syndrome. We present a patient with severe (type II) hepatopulmonary syndrome caused by idiopathic portal hypertension and discuss the consequences of paroxetine therapy.