Acute pulmonary hypertension after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt: a potentially deadly but commonly forgotten complication.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a common cause of chronic liver disease and is the most common indication for liver transplantation in the United States. As increasing numbers of the population experience complications from chronic liver disease, management of these complications comes into focus. One such management technique is a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS). As the number of patients with HCV cirrhosis increases, the proportion of TIPS procedures performed will also increase. It is, therefore, paramount to understand the potential adverse effects of this increasingly used procedure. This case report focuses on a 52-year-old man with HCV cirrhosis who developed the complication of acute pulmonary hypertension after receiving a TIPS procedure. In this case report, we discuss this important but commonly missed complication of TIPS, including incidence, diagnosis, and treatment.
Jacqueline Modock, BSN, RN, is Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Lake Tahoe Regional Hospitalist, Carson City, Nevada.
Jacqueline
J
Modock
D000208:Acute Disease; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000209:etiology*; D019168:Portasystemic Shunt, Transjugular Intrahepatic / Q000009:adverse effects*