Ammonia Levels and Hepatic Encephalopathy in Patients with Known Chronic Liver Disease.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28786433.
- Also identified by DOI 10.12788/jhm.2794.
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Abstract
Ammonia is predominantly generated in the gut by intestinal bacteria and enzymes and detoxified primarily in the liver. Since the 1930s, ammonia has been identified as the principal culprit in hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Many physicians utilize serum ammonia to diagnose, assess severity, and determine the resolution of HE in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) despite research showing that ammonia levels are unhelpful in all of these clinical circumstances. HE in patients with CLD is a clinical diagnosis of exclusion that should not be based on ammonia levels.
Medical subject headings
- Ammonia
- Hepatic Encephalopathy
- Liver Cirrhosis