A Study of Pulmonary Hypertension in Patients with Cirrhosis of Liver and Portal Hypertension

Abstract

Background and objectives: Portopulmonary hypertension is a well known complication of liver cirrhosis. This study aims to find the frequency of pulmonary hypertension in patients with cirrhosis of liver and portal hypertension and to determine the association between severity of cirrhosis using CHILD PUGH(CTP) classification and frequency of pulmonary hypertension (PAH).Methods: his cross sectional study was conducted on 151 patients with cirrhosis of liver and portal hypertension, diagnosed by ultrasonography and esophagogastroduodenoscopy. Echocardiography was done. A pulmonary arterial systolic pressure of more than 40mm Hg was taken as PAH. Data was analysed using SPSS version 21.0 by descriptive statistics and Chi Square test. Results: Of the 151 patients studied , most were 31-40 years(35.8 %), 88.7% were males. The maximum number belonged to CTP B. 6.6% of the study population had PAH, of which the majority belonged to CTP C. There was no statistical correlation between severity of cirrhosis and PAH (p-0.25).Female sex was associated with increased incidence of PAH and was statistically significant( p-0.00).Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, there is a need for screening all patients with portal hypertension for PAH, As several studies have shown mortality benefit with early treatment and intervention for PAH.