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Case Reports
. 2019 Nov 26;12(11):e231499.
doi: 10.1136/bcr-2019-231499.

Platypnoea and orthodeoxia in the hepatopulmonary syndrome

Anna Surridge  1 , Jane Atkinson  1 , Avinash Aujayeb  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Platypnoea and orthodeoxia in the hepatopulmonary syndrome

Anna Surridge et al. BMJ Case Rep. .

Abstract

A 71-year-old female patient with alcohol-induced cirrhosis presented with symptoms of dyspnoea. Previous extensive investigations had detected no apparent cause. Platypnoea and orthodeoxia were observed. A bubble echocardiogram revealed significant intracardiac shunting and a diagnosis of hepatopulmonary syndrome was made. The patient was discharged on home oxygen and referred for liver transplantation.

Keywords: Gastroenterology; Respiratory medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Capture of echocardiogram at the first beat showing no bubbles in left side.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Capture of echocardiogram at the third beat showing some bubbles in left side.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Capture of echocardiogram at the fourth beat showing an increasing number of bubbles in left side.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Capture of echocardiogram at the fifth beat showing a significant number of bubbles in left side.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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