Sarcoidosis-induced pericarditis in a patient with portopulmonary hypertension: a case report.
Portopulmonary hypertension is a rare and severe complication of patients with cirrhosis. Sarcoidosis, a disease of unknown etiology, is also a cause of pulonary hypertension and right heart dysfunction. We report the case of a 51-year-old male patient, suffering from cirrhosis due to Wilson's disease, portal hypertension and pulmonary hypertension (PH), who developed severe pericarditis. Wilson's disease was diagnosed 8 years before his last admission to our hospital and was being successfully treated with D-penicillamine. PH was recognized 2 years before admission and being treated with bosentan. The patient complained for dyspnea at rest and the 2D echocardiogram revealed a significant amount of pericardial fluid. All other causes of acute pericarditis were excluded and his laboratory, imaging and histopathological investigation showed evidence of sarcoidosis. He underwent a therapy with corticosteroids (methylprednisolone) and his follow-up examination showed remarkable decrease of the levels of mean pulmonary artery pressure and pericardial fluid.
Giouleme
Olga
O
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Aristotle University, Hippokration Hospital, 49 Konstantinoupoleos Str 54642, Thessaloniki, Greece. olgagi@med.auth.gr
Anagnostis
Panagiotis
P
Patsiaoura
Kalliopi
K
Vasiliadis
Themistoklis
T
Grammatikos
Nikolaos
N
Kakavas
Nikitas
N
Mpoumponaris
Alexander
A
Eugenidis
Nikolaos
N
Basayannis
Elias
E