Assessment of microstructural abnormalities in gray and white matter of minimal hepatic encephalopathy patients using diffusion kurtosis imaging and their associations with neurocognitive dysfunction.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

Although neural activity abnormalities have been reported in cirrhosis patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE), the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying microstructural brain alterations remain poorly understood. This prospective study aimed to assess microstructural abnormalities in both gray matter and white matter of MHE patients by using diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), and to examine associations between these alterations and neurocognitive and clinical measurements.

Methods

Thirty-one Hepatitis B Virus-related cirrhotic patients without MHE (NMHE), thirty Hepatitis B Virus-related cirrhotic patients with MHE, and 59 gender-, age-, education-matched healthy controls underwent diffusional kurtosis imaging and neurocognitive assessments. We used tract

SUBMITTER: Sun Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12315561 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature