title: Sarcoidosis-induced pericarditis in a patient with portopulmonary hypertension: a case report.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Aristotle University, Hippokration Hospital, 49 Konstantinoupoleos Str 54642, Thessaloniki, Greece. olgagi@med.auth.gr
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Giouleme
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anagnostis
authors.forename: Kalliopi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Patsiaoura
authors.forename: Themistoklis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vasiliadis
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Grammatikos
authors.forename: Nikitas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kakavas
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mpoumponaris
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Eugenidis
authors.forename: Elias
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Basayannis