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Pathophysiology of Hepatic Encephalopathy: Studies in Animal Models

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Abstract

Hepatic Encephalopathy (HE) is a serious neuropsychiatric complication of both acute and chronic liver failure. A study group concluded in 2002 that “HE is a spectrum of neuropsychiatric abnormalities seen in patients with liver dysfunction after exclusion of other known brain diseases” (Ferenci et al., 2002). A multiaxial definition of HE was proposed that defines both the type of hepatic abnormality and the characteristics of the neurological manifestations. Three types of hepatic abnormalities were defined, namely:

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Butterworth, R.F. (2009). Pathophysiology of Hepatic Encephalopathy: Studies in Animal Models. In: McCandless, D. (eds) Metabolic Encephalopathy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79112-8_9

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