Sustained low diffusing capacity in hepatopulmonary syndrome after liver transplantation

AIM： To study the presence of sustained low diffusing capacity （DLco） after liver transplantation （LT） in patients with hepatopulmonary syndrome （HPS）. METHODS： Six patients with mild-to-severe HPS and 24 without HPS who underwent LT were prospectively followed before and after LT at mid-term （median, 15 mo）. HPS patients were also assessed at Iong-tem （median, 86 mo）. RESULTS： Before LT, HPS patients showed lower PaO2 （71 ± 8 mmHg）, higher AaPO2 （43 ± 10 mmHg） and lower DLco （54% ± 9% predicted）, due to a combination of moderate-to-severe ventilation-perfusion （VA/Q） imbalance, mild shunt and diffusion limitation, than non- HPS patients （94 ± 4 mmHg and 19 ± 3 mmHg, and 85% ± 3% predicted, respectively） （P 〈 0.05 each）. Seven non-HPS patients had also reduced DLco （70% ± 4% predicted）. At mid- and long-term after LT, compared to pre- LT, HPS patients normalized PaO2 （91 ± 3 mmHg and 87 ± 5 mmHg）, AaPO2 （14 ± 3 mmHg and 23 ± 5 mmHg） and all VA/Q descriptors （P 〈 0.05 each） without changes in DLco （53% ± 8% and 56% ± 7% predicted, respectively）. Post-LT DLco in non-HPS patients with pre- LT low DLco was unchanged （75% ± 6% predicted）. CONCLUSION： While complete VA/Q resolution in HPS indicates a reversible functional disturbance, sustained low DLco after LT also present in some non-HPS patients, points to persistence of sub-clinical liver-induced pulmonary vascular changes.