In patients with chronic liver disease,hepatopulmonary syndrome, the right to left shunt without previous pulmonary and cardiac disease, can develope and cause respiratory distress. Tools to prove shunt are contrast echocardiography, pulmonary angiogr...
In patients with chronic liver disease,hepatopulmonary syndrome, the right to left shunt without previous pulmonary and cardiac disease, can develope and cause respiratory distress. Tools to prove shunt are contrast echocardiography, pulmonary angiography, and ^99mTC-MAA perfusion lung scan. Among them, ^99mTc-MAA scan is a simple and safe method detecting the right to left shunt. At the same time, quantitation of shunt amount is possible by this method. We report a case of hepatopulmonary syndrome confirmed by ^99mTc-MAA scan and contrast echocardiography with review of literlatures. (Korean J Nucl Med 2002;36;203-8)