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Review
. 2014 Jun 4:2014:236268.
doi: 10.1155/2014/236268. eCollection 2014.

Hepatic Encephalopathy: From the Pathogenesis to the New Treatments

Juan Cordoba  1
Affiliations
Review

Hepatic Encephalopathy: From the Pathogenesis to the New Treatments

Juan Cordoba. ISRN Hepatol. .

Abstract

Hepatic encephalopathy is a frequent and serious complication of liver cirrhosis; the pathophysiology of this complication is not fully understood although great efforts have been made during the last years. There are few prospective studies on the epidemiology of this complication; however, it is known that it confers with high short-term mortality. Hepatic encephalopathy has been classified into different groups depending on the degree of hepatic dysfunction, the presence of portal-systemic shunts, and the number of episodes. Due to the large clinical spectra of overt EH and the complexity of cirrhotic patients, it is very difficult to perform quality clinical trials for assessing the efficacy of the treatments proposed. The physiopathology, clinical manifestation, and the treatment of HE is a challenge because of the multiple factors that converge and coexist in an episode of overt HE.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Physiopathology of hepatic encephalopathy. Cordoba Semin Liv Dis 2008. GLN: glutamine; GLU: glutamate; GNase: glutamine synthetase; BBB: blood brain barrier.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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