Movement dysfunction and hepatic encephalopathy

Hepatic encephalopathy is characterized by a variety of neurological sympto ms. The occurrence of movement disorders is exceptional and is usually part of a clinical syndrome called acquired hepatocerebral degeneration, which is a subtype of chronic recurrent hepatic encephalopathy. The clinical pict ure is usually progressive and pathologic findings include regional astrogl ial and neuronal abnormalities found predominantly in cortex and basal gang lia. As for hepatic encephalopathy in general, the pathophysiology of this disorder is unknown but hyperammonemia and/or brain manganese overload may play a role. Medical treatment is often disappointing but in selected cases liver transplantation may be curative.