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World J Gastroenterol. Jul 14, 2016; 22(26): 6008-6015
Published online Jul 14, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i26.6008
Pulmonary complications of hepatic diseases
Salim R Surani, Yamely Mendez, Humayun Anjum, Joseph Varon
Salim R Surani, University of North Texas, Aransas Pass, TX 78366, United States
Yamely Mendez, Dorrington Medical Associates, PA and Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Houston, TX 77030, United States
Humayun Anjum, Faculty, Bay Area Medical Center, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, United States
Joseph Varon, Clinical Medicine, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Houston, TX 77030, United States
Author contributions: All of the authors have been involved in writing, editing, review and revision of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors have any conflict to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Salim R Surani, MD, University of North Texas, 1177 West Wheeler Ave, Aransas Pass, TX 78366, United States. srsurani@hotmail.com
Telephone: +1-361-8857722 Fax: +1-361-8507563
Received: March 20, 2016
Peer-review started: March 22, 2016
First decision: April 14, 2016
Revised: May 1, 2016
Accepted: May 21, 2016
Article in press: May 23, 2016
Published online: July 14, 2016
Core Tip

Core tip: Pulmonary complications are found in some patients with liver disease. The hepatopulmonary syndrome is found in 15% to 30% and, its presence, increases mortality and risk of requiring liver transplantation. Portopulmonary hypertension has been reported to be present in 4% to 8% in patients whom have undergone liver transplant evaluation. Hepatic hydrothorax, with a prevalence of 5%-6% in these patients, is suspected when a patient develops pleural effusions without presence of cardiopulmonary disease. All of these entities can only be solved with successful liver transplant.