Multislice CT criteria of hepatopulmonary syndrome in patients with post HCVliver cirrhosis.

Background and Aim: Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS), a liver induced lung vascular disorder, consists of a triad of hepatic dysfunction, intrapulmonary vascular dilatation and hypoxemia). Hepatic patients with intrapulmonary vascular dilatation that are normoxemic are said to have subclinical HPS or intra pulmonary vascular dilatation syndrome (IPVDS) in contrast to overt or clinically significant HPS patients that fulfill all three criteria of the triad. The aim of this work was to explore the role of MDCT in HPS. Patients and Methods: This study involved 63 patients; 40 males and 23 females, age ranging from 25 to 74 years (with an average of 54 years). All patients were known cases of post-hepatitis C liver cirrhosis and all of them underwent assessment of their lung bases by MDCT for CT evidence of HPS. Results: pulmonary vascular dilatations diagnosed with MSCT were found in 37 of the 63 Egyptian post-hepatitis C cirrhotic patients evaluated. 30.1% had HPS and 28.6% had IPVDS Conclusion: Role of HRCT imaging in the evaluation and diagnosis of patients with intrathoracic manifestations of RA is central, being accurate and non-invasive.