Background: Cor pulmonale is a common complication to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and may result in increased pressure in the inferior caval vein and stasis of the liver. The chronic pulmonary hypertension may lead to stasis in the veins from the small intestine and thereby compromise absorption of nutrients.
Aim: To investigate whether patients with pulmonary hypertension have reduced absorption capacity compared to COPD patients without cor pulmonale.
Methods: Absorption of D-xylose (25 g) and zinc (132 mg), administered as a single dose, was tested in 14 COPD patients, seven with and seven without cor pulmonale. The presence of cor pulmonale was determined by echocardiography. The concentration of D-xylose and zinc were measured in peripheral blood one, two and three hours after ingestion and used as markers of absorption. Furthermore, urine was collected for five hours to determine the amount of excreted D-xylose.
