Deibert P, Lazaro A, Stankovic Z, Schaffner D, Rössle M, Kreisel W. Beneficial long term effect of a phosphodiesterase-5-inhibitor in cirrhotic portal hypertension: A case report with 8 years follow-up. World J Gastroenterol 2018; 24(3): 438-444 [PMID: 29391766 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i3.438]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Wolfgang Kreisel, MD, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hugstetter Str. 55, Freiburg 79106, Germany. wolfgang.kreisel@uniklinik-freiburg.de
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 21, 2018; 24(3): 438-444 Published online Jan 21, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i3.438
Beneficial long term effect of a phosphodiesterase-5-inhibitor in cirrhotic portal hypertension: A case report with 8 years follow-up
Peter Deibert, Adhara Lazaro, Zoran Stankovic, Denise Schaffner, Martin Rössle, Wolfgang Kreisel
Peter Deibert, Adhara Lazaro, Denise Schaffner, Faculty of Medicine, Institute for Exercise and Occupational Medicine, Department of Medicine, University Hospital, Freiburg 79106, Germany
Zoran Stankovic, Inselspital, Interventional and Pediatric Radiology, Institute of Diagnostic, University of Bern, Bern 3010, Switzerland
Denise Schaffner, Department of Pharmaceutical Biology and Biotechnology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg 79106, Germany
Martin Rössle, Private Praxis, Praxiszentrum, Freiburg 79104, Germany
Wolfgang Kreisel, Faculty of Medicine, Endocrinology and Infectious Diseases, Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, University Hospital, Freiburg 79106, Germany
Author contributions: Deibert P and Kreisel W treated the patient and designed the concept of treatment of portal hypertension with PDE-5-inhibitors; Stankovic Z performed the MRI measurements; Deibert P did the sonographic examinations; Rössle M, Kreisel W and Deibert P performed the invasive measurements of HVPG; All authors shared the acquired data; Deibert P, Lazaro A, Schaffner D, Rössle M and Kreisel W drafted the manuscript.
Informed consent statement: The described patient provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors declared a conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Wolfgang Kreisel, MD, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hugstetter Str. 55, Freiburg 79106, Germany. wolfgang.kreisel@uniklinik-freiburg.de
Telephone: +49-761-27034010 Fax: +49-761-27074880
Received: October 27, 2017 Peer-review started: October 28, 2017 First decision: November 14, 2017 Revised: December 1, 2017 Accepted: December 4, 2017 Article in press: December 4, 2017 Published online: January 21, 2018 Processing time: 83 Days and 21.2 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Case characteristics
This is the first report of long-term treatment of portal hypertension with PDE-5 inhibitors.
Clinical diagnosis
Variceal bleeding in liver cirrhosis due to autoimmune hepatitis.
Differential diagnosis
Diagnosis of cirrhosis was done 20 years before start of treatment, so the decline in portal hypertension is probably attributable to PDE-5-Inhibitor-treatment rather than spontaneous improvement.
Laboratory diagnosis
Improvement of portal hypertension was verified by invasive measurement of hepatovenous pressure gradient.
Imaging diagnosis
MRI and duplex sonographic images verified improvement in portal hemodynamics.
Pathological diagnosis
Liver cirrhosis was histologically confirmed 20 years prior to PDE-5-Inhibitor treatment.
Treatment
Oral treatment with Tadalafil 5mg once daily.
Related reports
Targeting the nitric oxide (NO)-cGMP-pathway in other diseases like pulmonary hypertension or erectile dysfunction.
Term explanation
Non-selective beta-blockers are the mainstay of medical therapy for portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis.
Experiences and lessons
Influencing the NO-pathway by the use of PDE-5 inhibitors may have long-term beneficial effects in compensated cirrhosis.
