PMID- 12974903
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20040226
LR  - 20190901
IS  - 0815-9319 (Print)
IS  - 0815-9319 (Linking)
VI  - 18
IP  - 10
DP  - 2003 Oct
TI  - Value of regional cerebral blood flow in the evaluation of chronic liver disease 
      and subclinical hepatic encephalopathy.
PG  - 1162-7
AB  - AIMS: Regional changes in cerebral blood flow in patients with chronic hepatitis, 
      cirrhosis and subclinical hepatic encephalopathy were investigated in the present 
      study using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). METHODS: Twenty 
      patients with cirrhosis, 11 patients with chronic hepatitis, and nine healthy 
      controls were included in the study. Cerebral SPECT were obtained for all 
      patients. The percentages of cerebral blood flow of 14 regions to the cerebellar 
      blood flow were determined. Only the patients with cirrhosis underwent 
      psychometric evaluation: visual evoked potentials (VEP) measurements and 
      electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings along with blood levels of albumin, 
      bilirubin, and ammonia were measured and prothrombin time was determined in 
      cirrhotic patients. These patients were classified according to the Child-Pugh 
      classification. RESULTS: Among cirrhotic patients, six had abnormal results in 
      VEP studies, 11 in psychometric tests and with six in EEG evaluation. Any 
      abnormality in psychometric tests and/or VEP studies is taken as the main 
      criterion; subclinical hepatic encephalopathy was detected in 12 of 20 patients. 
      According to SPECT results in patients with subclinical encephalopathy, a 
      statistically significant decrease in cerebral blood flow in right thalamus and 
      nearly significant decrease in left thalamus were observed. Regional blood flow 
      was significantly higher in the frontal lobes of patients with cirrhosis when 
      compared with healthy controls. Similarly, cerebral blood flow in frontal and 
      cingulate regions was significantly higher in patients with chronic hepatitis 
      than in healthy controls. There was no relationship between cerebral blood flow 
      and blood levels of ammonia or Child-Pugh score, in cirrhotic patients. 
      CONCLUSION: Significant changes in cerebral blood flow may be present in chronic 
      liver diseases and the authors suggest that the measurement of changes in 
      cerebral blood flow might be useful in detecting subclinical hepatic 
      encephalopathy.
FAU - Yazgan, Yusuf
AU  - Yazgan Y
AD  - Departments of Gastroenterology, Nuclear Medicine, Neurology, and Psychiatry, 
      Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
FAU - Narin, Yavuz
AU  - Narin Y
FAU - Demirturk, Levent
AU  - Demirturk L
FAU - Saracoglu, Mehmet
AU  - Saracoglu M
FAU - Ercan, Mustafa
AU  - Ercan M
FAU - Akyatan, Nevzat
AU  - Akyatan N
FAU - Dalkanat, Nagehan
AU  - Dalkanat N
FAU - Ozel, A Melih
AU  - Ozel AM
FAU - Cetin, Mesut
AU  - Cetin M
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - Australia
TA  - J Gastroenterol Hepatol
JT  - Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology
JID - 8607909
SB  - IM
CIN - J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2004 Jan;19(1):1-3. PMID: 14675235
MH  - Adult
MH  - Aged
MH  - Cerebellum/blood supply
MH  - *Cerebrovascular Circulation
MH  - Chronic Disease
MH  - Electroencephalography
MH  - Evoked Potentials, Visual
MH  - Female
MH  - Hepatic Encephalopathy/diagnosis/*physiopathology/psychology
MH  - Humans
MH  - Liver Diseases/*physiopathology/psychology
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Psychometrics
MH  - Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
EDAT- 2003/09/17 05:00
MHDA- 2004/02/27 05:00
CRDT- 2003/09/17 05:00
PHST- 2003/09/17 05:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2004/02/27 05:00 [medline]
PHST- 2003/09/17 05:00 [entrez]
AID - 3141 [pii]
AID - 10.1046/j.1440-1746.2003.03141.x [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2003 Oct;18(10):1162-7. doi: 
      10.1046/j.1440-1746.2003.03141.x.