Prevalence and Associated Factors of Portopulmonary Hypertension in Patients with Portal Hypertension: A Case-Control Study

Background and Aims. There are few studies on the prevalence and clinical characteristics of portopulmonary hypertension (POPH) in patients with portal hypertension. In addition, invasive right heart catheterization further limits the clinical diagnosis of POPH patients. Methods. From January 2018 to December 2019, 1004 patients with portal hypertension were treated in the Department of Hepatology, the First Hospital of Jilin University. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 188 patients with portal hypertension were finally included. We collected complete clinical data, laboratory examinations, and imaging examinations. Patients were divided into a POPH group and a non-POPH group based on echocardiographic results. We calculated the prevalence of POPH in patients with portal hypertension. The differences in clinical characteristics of the two groups of patients were compared. Results. The prevalence of POPH in patients with portal hypertension was 2.8%. Among the 188 patients with portal hypertension with fingertip oxygen saturation<95% at rest, 28 patients had POPH (12 males and 16 females), with an average age of 63±8, and 160 patients did not have POPH (110 males, 50 women), with an average age of 59±11. The proportion of women in the POPH group (P<0.01) and patients without liver cancer (P=0.044) was high. Compared to patients without POPH, patients with POPH had lower hemoglobin (related to the severity of anemia, P<0.01), higher creatinine (P<0.05), and lower partial pressure of oxygen and carbon dioxide (P