Pulmonary Dysfunction in Patients with Cirrhosis of the Liver: A Study of Pulmonary Function Tests and Arterial Blood Gases.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Respiratory complications in liver cirrhosis can occur due to various mechanisms, such as ascites causing restricted lung expansion and opening of intrapulmonary vascular shunts due to high portal pressures. We aimed to study the effects of the liver dysfunction on the lungs by evaluating arterial blood gas (ABG) and pulmonary function test (PFT) of all study subjects.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done between August 2020 and September 2022. Diagnosed cases of the liver cirrhosis were enrolled in the study after informed consent and were subjected to the following investigations: chest X-ray, oximetry, spirometry, diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO), two-dimensional echocardiography, and ABG analysis (ABGA). The cases were divided into three groups based on their Child-Pugh staging, and statistical analysis was done on the collected data.

RESULTS: A total of 64 (53 males and 11 females) patients with an average age of 49.82 ± 9.89 years were studied. Alcoholism was the most common cause of cirrhosis in males. Breathlessness (65.6%) and pleural effusion (26.6%) were the most common respiratory symptoms and signs, respectively. Seventeen patients had hepatic hydrothorax, eight patients had hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS), and six patients had portopulmonary hypertension. Low pH (17.2%) and oxygen partial pressure (PaO2 ) (20.3%) were the most common ABGA findings. The pH, PaO2 , forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1 )/forced vital capacity (FVC), and DLCO were significantly low in Child Pugh Stage C ( P < 0.05). The pH, pO2 , HCO3 , FEV1 , FVC, FEV1 /FVC, and DLCO were significantly lower in patients with HPS ( P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: Metabolic acidosis and low FEV1 /FVC and DLCO were the common findings in study subjects. Pulmonary dysfunction was common in advanced liver cirrhosis. Patients with HPS had worse ABG and PFT parameters than those without HPS.