Hepato-cardiac disorders

Understanding the mutual relationship between the liver and the heart is important for both hepatologists and cardiologists. Hepato-cardiac diseases can be classified into heart diseases affecting the liver, liver diseases affecting the heart, and conditions affecting the heart and the liver at the same time. Differential diagnoses of liver injury are extremely important in a cardiologist's clinical practice calling for collaboration between cardiologists and hepatologists due to the many other diseases that can affect the liver and mimic haemodynamic injury. Acute and chronic heart failure may lead to acute ischemic hepatitis or chronic congestive hepatopathy. Treatment in these cases should be directed to the primary heart disease. In patients with advanced liver disease, cirrhotic cardiomyopathy may develop including hemodynamic changes, diastolic and systolic dysfunctions, reduced cardiac performance and electrophysiological abnormalities. Cardiac evaluation is important for patients with liver diseases especially before and after liver transplantation. Liver transplantation may lead to the improvement of all cardiac changes and the reversal of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy. There are systemic diseases that may affect both the liver and the heart concomitantly including congenital, metabolic and inflammatory diseases as well as alcoholism. This review highlights these hepatocardiac diseases.