Background. Hyperammonemia resulting from chronic liver disease (CLD) can potentially challenge and damage any organ system of the body, particularly the brain. However, there is still some controversy regarding the diagnostic or prognostic values of serum ammonia in patients with over hepatic encephalopathy, especially in the setting of acute-on-chronic or chronic liver failure. Moreover, the ...

Objectives-To establish better operational criteria for the diagnosis of Wernicke's encephalopathy. Current criteria for diagnosing Wernicke's encephalopathy require the presence of three clinical signs (oculomotor abnormalities, cerebellar dysfunction, and an altered mental state), although it has often been reported that most patients do not filfil all these criteria. Methods-The clinical his...

BACKGROUND "Minimal (subclinical) hepatic encephalopathy" is a term that describes impairment of every day life activities in cirrhosis patients without clinical neurologic abnormalities. Melatonin diurnal pattern disruption and metabolic changes due to liver insufficiency can affect the human biologic clock. Our study was conducted to measure plasma melatonin levels in an attempt to correlate ...

BACKGROUND/AIMS The purpose of this study was to evaluate the technical/hemodynamic success, complications, and biochemical/ hematologic consequences of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) created with 10-mm bare stents in our patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data of 27 cirrhotic patients (18 men and 9 women; mean age, 39.7±18.7 years) with a median MELD score 14 (range 7-31) ...

BACKGROUND In this clinical trial, polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution was compared with lactulose in the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy in patients with cirrhosis. METHODS This randomized controlled trial was performed on 40 patients in two groups. The patients in the lactulose group received either 20-30 grams of lactulose orally or by a nasogastric tube, or 200 grams of lactulose enema b...