Impact of the presence of intrapulmonary shunt on cardiac output and echoardiographic criteria of patients with advanced liver disease

The aim of this work was to study the impact of the presence of intrapulmonary shunt [IPSH] on cardiac output and echocardiographic criteria of two groups of patients having Child class C chronic liver cirrhosis. Sixty-eight patients having advanced liver disease [ALD] were included in this study. The results indicated that 35 patients showed an evidence of IPSH [group I], while the other 33 cases showed no evidence [group II]. There was no significant difference in sex distribution, mean age or incidence of diabetes mellitus and hypertension between both groups. There was no significant difference in the alveolo-arterial O2 gradient between both groups. But, patients with IPSH had significantly a less PaO2 than those without