Analogies and differences between cirrhotic cardiomyopathy and hepatopulmonary syndrome

Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy and hepatopulmonary syndrome are two quite frequent clinical entities that may complicate the course of liver cirrhosis. The common pathophysiological origin and the same clinical presentation make them difficult to compare. Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy and hepatopulmonary syndrome may start with dyspnea and breathlessness but the former is characterized by a chronic cardiac dysfunction and the latter by a defect of oxygenation due to pulmonary shunts formation. The focus is to differentiate them as soon as possible since the treatment is different until the patient undergoes liver transplant that is the real unique cure for them.

Characteristics and analysis of right-to-left shunt-related dizziness in patients without hypoxemia

Objective

This study aimed to analyze right-to-left shunt-related dizziness in three patients without hypoxemia.

Methods

Case 1 was a 47-year-old man with a history of cerebral infarction 8 years previously and recurrent dizziness for > 6 months. Patent foramen ovale (PFO) was found with a severe right-to-left shunt. Case 2 was a 50-year-old man with acute stroke. He had a history of repeated dizziness for > 4 years. He was diagnosed with PFO with a severe right-to-left shunt after admission. Case 3 was a 73-year-old woman with recurrent dizziness for > 10 months. Pulmonary arteriovenous fistula was diagnosed upon admission. No patients had hypoxemia.

Results

After percutaneous PFO occlusion in Cases 1 and 2, the patients were followed up for 6 months and 1 year, respectively. Two patients had relief of dizziness without recurrence. In Case 3, the pallor improved and the dizziness was relieved after pulmonary arteriovenous fistula embolization and did not recur over a 6-month follow-up.

Conclusions

There was a possible association between a severe right-to-left shunt and dizziness, although hypoxemia was absent in the cases. Intervention to eliminate a left-to-right shunt can improve dizziness in patients without hypoxemia with a severe right-to-left shunt.

Diagnostic approach to neuropsychiatric lupus erythematosus: what should we do?

Neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus is a diagnostic challenge due to the multifarious neurological and psychiatric manifestations that define it but, when suspected, diagnostic imaging can give a fundamental help. The advancements and variety of neuroimaging techniques allow us to perform more and more accurate evaluations of structure, perfusion, and metabolism of the brain and to detect cerebral and spinal lesions. Moreover, vascular districts of the neck and the brain, as well as the electrical brain and peripheral muscle activity may be accurately investigated, thus giving us a wide panoramic view. Although magnetic resonance is recognized as a fundamental neuroimaging technique to reach a correct diagnosis, the juxtaposition of other diagnostic techniques has improved the possibility to make diagnoses but has also increased the confusion about deciding which of them to use and when. Our aim was to combine the number of available techniques with the need to simplify the diagnostic path. Therefore, through the construction of an algorithm from an evidence based approach, we believe we are providing some added improvements to facilitate and expedite the diagnosis of NPSLE.