Brain abscess in hepatopulmonary syndrome

Presentation of Congenital Portosystemic Shunts in Children

Background: Congenital portosystemic shunts (CPSS) are rare vascular anomalies resulting in communications between the portal venous system and the systemic venous circulation, affecting an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 live births. CPSS can present at any age as a multi-system disease of variable severity mimicking both common and rare pediatric conditions. Case presentations: Case A: A vascular malformation was identified in the liver of a 10-year-old girl with tall stature, advanced somatic maturation, insulin resistance with hyperinsulinemia, hyperandrogenemia and transient hematuria. Work-up also suggested elevated pulmonary pressures. Case B: A young girl with trisomy 8 mosaicism with a history of neonatal hypoglycemia, transient neonatal cholestasis and tall stature presented newly increased aminotransferase levels at 6 years of age. Case C: A 3-year-old boy with speech delay, tall stature and abdominal pain underwent abdominal ultrasound (US) showing multiple liver nodules, diagnosed as liver hemangiomas by hepatic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Management and outcome: After identification of a venous malformation on liver Doppler US, all three patients were referred to a specialized liver center for further work-up within 12 to 18 months from diagnosis. Angio-computed tomography (CT) scan confirmed the presence of either an intrahepatic or extrahepatic CPSS with multiples liver nodules. All three had a hyperintense signal in the globus pallidus on T1 weighted cerebral MRI. Right heart catheterization confirmed pulmonary hypertension in cases A and C. Shunts were closed either using an endovascular or surgical approach. Liver nodules were either surgically removed if there was a risk of malignant degeneration or closely monitored by serial imaging when benign. Conclusion: These cases illustrate most of the common chief complaints and manifestations of CPSS. Liver Doppler US is the key to diagnosis. Considering portosystemic shunts in the diagnostic work-up of a patient with unexplained endocrine, liver, gastro-intestinal, cardiovascular, hematological, renal or neurocognitive disorder is important as prompt referral to a specialized center may significantly impact patient outcome.

Brain abscess in hepatopulmonary syndrome associated with biliary atresia

The first-choice therapy for biliary atresia (BA) is Kasai hepatoportoenterostomy, which has been shown to greatly improve outcome. Various long-term complications, however, such as portal hypertension and hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS), can occur in patients with native liver. A rare case of brain abscess in an 11-year-old girl with HPS associated with BA is reported. The patient underwent hepatoportoenterostomy for BA at 53 days of age, with resolution of hyperbilirubinemia. At 10 years of age, she was diagnosed with severe HPS with right-to-left shunting, and preparations for liver transplantation proceeded. Three months after the diagnosis, she had a right parietal brain abscess. Given that the brain abscess enlarged in size, surgical drainage of the brain abscess was performed. The postoperative course was uneventful, but a slight left hemiplegia remained at discharge. The presumed mechanism of abscess formation in HPS may be right-to-left bacterial transit through intrapulmonary vascular dilatations and/or arteriovenous fistulae.

Successful resolution of very severe hepatopulmonary syndrome following adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation: Report of two cases

Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a severe complication in patients with chronic liver disease with poor prognosis. Liver transplantation (LT) is a promising treatment for HPS; however, very severe HPS, which is defined by an arterial oxygen pressure (PaO₂ ) of less than 50 mmHg and a right-left intrapulmonary shunt rate of more than 20%, may be a contraindication to LT, including living donor LT (LDLT). Here, we report two cases of decompensated liver cirrhosis with very severe HPS which were resolved after adult-to-adult LDLT including ABO-incompatible LDLT. Both patients required oxygen supportive therapy in combination with specialized respiratory care postoperatively, followed by improvement of oxygenation and substantial decreases of intrapulmonary shunt rate. These findings suggest very severe HPS can be resolved by LDLT, including ABO-incompatible LDLT, and reduced graft volume did not impede the reversal of intrapulmonary shunting. Our current report may indicate that adult-to-adult LDLT, including ABO-incompatible LDLT, is becoming an effective therapeutic method and prompt a review of previous reports as well as our own files with particular regard to the indication of LDLT for decompensated liver cirrhosis with very severe HPS.

Pulmonary vascular complications in portal hypertension and liver disease: a concise review

Chronic liver disease and/or portal hypertension may be associated with one of the two pulmonary vascular complications: portopulmonary hypertension and hepatopulmonary syndrome. These pulmonary vascular disorders are notoriously underdiagnosed; however, they have a substantial negative impact on survival and require special attention in order to understand their diagnostic approach and to select the best therapeutic options. Portopulmonary hypertension results from excessive vasoconstriction, vascular remodeling, and proliferative and thrombotic events within the pulmonary circulation that lead to progressive right ventricular failure and ultimately to death. On the other hand, abnormal intrapulmonary vascular dilations, profound hypoxemia, and a wide alveolar-arterial gradient are the hallmarks of the hepatopulmonary syndrome, resulting in difficult-to-treat hypoxemia. The aim of this review is to summarize the latest pathophysiologic concepts, diagnostic approach, therapy, and prognosis of portopulmonary hypertension and hepatopulmonary syndrome, as well as to discuss the role of liver transplantation as a definitive therapy in selected patients with these conditions.

Hepatopulmonary syndrome: update on pathogenesis and clinical features

Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a serious vascular complication of liver disease that occurs in 5-32% of patients with cirrhosis. The presence of HPS markedly increases mortality. No effective medical therapies are currently available and liver transplantation is the only established treatment option for HPS. The definition and diagnosis of HPS are established by the presence of a triad of liver disease with intrapulmonary vascular dilation that causes abnormal arterial gas exchange. Experimental biliary cirrhosis induced by common bile duct ligation in the rat reproduces the pulmonary vascular and gas exchange abnormalities of human HPS and serves as a pertinent animal model. Pulmonary microvascular dilation and angiogenesis are two central pathogenic features that drive abnormal pulmonary gas exchange in experimental HPS, and thus might underlie HPS in humans. Defining the mechanisms involved in the microvascular alterations of HPS has the potential to lead to effective medical therapies. This Review focuses on the current understanding of the pathogenesis, clinical features and management of HPS.

Pulmonary manifestations of liver diseases

Respiratory problems are common in patients with chronic liver diseases. The most common causes are disorders that are not related to liver diseases such as asthma and COPD. In addition certain liver diseases that are associated with specific pulmonary abnormalities, and conditions associated with end stage liver disease like tense ascites and intercostal muscular wasting are considered. Finally two unique disorders characterizing by vascular abnormalities independent of cardiorespiratory disorder-the hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) and portopulmonary hypertension (POPH) are observed. These disorders have different pathogenesis, different clinical pictures, treatment and prognosis. This article reviews the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical features, evaluation and current therapy of these two disorders.

Sarcoidosis complicated by cirrhosis and hepatopulmonary syndrome

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disorder commonly affecting the lungs, but also the liver, with cirrhosis and portal hypertension occurring in fewer than 1% of cases. Although hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is seen in 15% to 20% of patients with cirrhosis of varying causes, it has rarely been associated with sarcoidosis. Also, although a brain abscess is not uncommon in patients with discrete pulmonary arteriovenous malformations, it is rarely seen in patients with the much smaller intrapulmonary vascular dilations that characterize HPS. A patient with an unusual series of uncommon sarcoidosis complications, including cirrhosis with HPS, brain abscess and finally Nocardia meningitis, is reported. The possibility of HPS should be considered in sarcoidosis patients with liver involvement, if gas-exchange abnormalities are out of proportion to the degree of lung involvement. These patients may also be susceptible to a cerebral abscess by paradoxical embolization, and to opportunistic infections due to cirrhosis.

Prevalence of hepatopulmonary syndrome in children

OBJECTIVE

The hepatopulmonary syndrome is defined as a triad of liver disease, hypoxemia, and intrapulmonary vascular dilation. The reported prevalence of hepatopulmonary syndrome in adults with cirrhosis ranges from 4% to 29%; however, the prevalence of hepatopulmonary syndrome and its outcome in children is unknown. The objective of this study was to describe prospectively the prevalence of intrapulmonary vascular dilation and hepatopulmonary syndrome in children with liver disease.

METHODS

Pulse oximetry was undertaken in children with liver disease, and those with oxygen saturation < or = 97%, those with cirrhosis, and those with clinically severe portal hypertension from other causes underwent contrast-enhanced echocardiography for detection of intrapulmonary vascular dilations. Patients with intrapulmonary vascular dilation underwent arterial blood gas analysis and technetium-99m-labeled macroaggregated albumin scan.

RESULTS

Oxygen saturation was measured in 301 children and was < or = 97% in 8. These 8 and an additional 18 patients with cirrhosis or portal hypertension underwent contrast-enhanced echocardiography. Seven (27%) patients had intrapulmonary vascular dilation detected by contrast-enhanced echocardiography; 2 of these patients had abnormal arterial blood gas analysis and thus met diagnostic criteria for hepatopulmonary syndrome (representing 8% of patients with cirrhosis or severe portal hypertension). Both patients with hepatopulmonary syndrome had abnormal pulse oximetry. Technetium-99m-labeled macroaggregated albumin scans for 6 patients showed a median 6.5% (range: 4%-12%) tracer uptake outside the lungs.

CONCLUSIONS

Hepatopulmonary syndrome occurs in an important minority of children with cirrhosis or severe portal hypertension. Additional studies should be undertaken to determine the importance of intrapulmonary vascular dilation without hepatopulmonary syndrome and the impact of hepatopulmonary syndrome on the outcomes of affected children.

Pediatric hepatopulmonary syndrome is seen with polysplenia/interrupted inferior vena cava and without cirrhosis

Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a triad of liver dysfunction, hypoxemia, and intrapulmonary vascular dilatation. We describe the prevalence and clinical features of HPS at a pediatric liver transplant center. Patients referred to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta/Emory University transplant program from February 1999 to May 2005 were reviewed. Oxygen saturation in room air was screened by percutaneous pulse oximetry. HPS cases were compared with similar age non-HPS recipients (n = 38) to determine differences in clinical characteristics, Pediatric End-Stage Liver Disease (PELD) scores, and posttransplantation survival. Of 211 patients referred and 114 patients transplanted, 7 met criteria for HPS (3.3% and 6.1%, respectively). Patients with HPS had lower PELD score (-0.4 +/- 5.9 vs. 11 +/- 11; P = 0.01) and total bilirubin (1.7 +/- 1.1 vs. 11.2 +/- 10.1; P = 0.02) at the time of transplantation. Four of 7 patients with HPS had polysplenia/interrupted inferior vena cava (PS/IVC) compared with 0 of 38 age-matched controls (P = 0.0002). Three patients with HPS did not have cirrhosis; 2 of these 3 had PS/IVC. All HPS cases normalized room air oxygen saturation by 6 months, and survival after transplantation in HPS cases was 100%. Marked hepatic synthetic or biochemical dysfunction may not be present, and cirrhosis is not a requirement for the development of HPS in children. HPS in children is frequently associated with PS/IVC. Histologic evidence of abnormal intrahepatic portal vein flow and the demonstration of portosystemic communications at any level should be sought in children presenting with unexplained intrapulmonary vascular dilatation. Liver transplantation for HPS in childhood may be appropriate even in the absence of cirrhosis.

Successful liver transplantation for congenital absence of the portal vein complicated by intrapulmonary shunt and brain abscess

A 27-day-old boy had convulsion associated with brain abscesses and severe hypoxemia at the age of 3 months. Congenital absence of the portal vein (CAPV) and some associated anomalies were detected by radiological examinations. Brain abscess and hypoxemia were thought to be serious complications resulting from CAPV and were successfully corrected by living donor liver transplantation at the age of 4 months. This is the first report of a successful transplantation indicated for intrapulmonary shunt and brain abscess in an infant with CAPV.

Abernethy malformation: one of the etiologies of hepatopulmonary syndrome

Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is the clinical relationship between hepatic disease and the existence of pulmonary vascular dilatations, which can result in a range of arterial oxygenation abnormalities. It is probably caused by an alteration in the synthesis or metabolism of vasoactive pulmonary substances at a hepatic level, leading to vasodilatation of pulmonary vessels and diffusion perfusion defects. The Abernethy malformation is characterized by the congenital diversion of portal blood away from the liver, by either end-to-side or side-to-side shunt. Here, we report on a 5-year-and-11-month-old-boy who had started cyanosis at age 4 years and 11 months, and did not have any other pulmonary or cardiac signs or symptoms. In the investigation, arterial blood gases revealed a PaO(2) of 41.4 mm Hg. The chest x-ray film and echo Doppler cardiography were normal. Nuclear scanning with Technetium 99m-labeled macroaggregated albumin showed the presence of arteriovenous shunt, at 47%. Abdominal echography revealed Abernethy malformation with an absence of portal vein. We concluded that the patient had HPS caused by Abernethy malformation. The possible mechanism is that in this malformation, there is a deviation in the blood that comes from the spleen to the vena cava without passing through the liver, so there is no metabolism of some substances which can be responsible for the imbalance between the vasodilatation and the vasoconstriction of the pulmonary circulation. Abernethy malformation must be included as one of the etiologies of hepatopulmonary syndrome. This is the first case described in the literature with this form of presentation.