[Medium-term management of protein-losing enteropathy of cardiac origin unresponsive to medical therapy in a patient awaiting heart transplantation].
Protein-losing enteropathy is characterized by excessive leaking of serum proteins into the gastrointestinal tract, as a result of disease progression in several diseases. We report the case of a 17-year-old-woman with hypoproteinemia, generalized edema and serosal effusions diagnosed as protein-losing enteropathy due to right ventricular failure secondary to previous surgical damage. All previously described therapies were ineffective in curing or relieving the disease or its symptoms, and the patient was listed for heart transplantation. During the 7-month period on the waiting list, the patient was managed as an outpatient, with fortnightly albumin infusions and intravenous furosemide administration, which allowed her a better quality of life during that period, avoiding further admissions.
Servei de Medicina Digestiva, Hospital Universitari La Fe, Valencia, España. melero@comv.es
Josep L
JL
Melero
María
M
García-Eliz
María
M
Yago
Andrea
A
Nevárez
Juan
J
Ortuño
Julio
J
Ponce
D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D011504:Protein-Losing Enteropathies / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D013997:Time Factors; D014850:Waiting Lists