Letters To The Editor
Copyright ©2008 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 7, 2008; 14(21): 3438-3439
Published online Jun 7, 2008. doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.3438
Hepatic encephalopathy in patients with liver cirrhosis: Is there a role of malnutrition?
Evangelos Kalaitzakis, Einar Björnsson
Evangelos Kalaitzakis, Einar Björnsson, Section of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg 41345, Sweden
Author contributions: Kalaitzakis E and Björnsson E contributed equally in idea conception, writing of manuscript and approval of final manuscript.
Correspondence to: Evangelos Kalaitzakis, MD, PhD, Section of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg 41345, Sweden. evangelos.kalaitzakis@vgregion.se
Telephone: +46-31-3421000
Fax: +46-31-822152
Received: February 21, 2008
Revised: April 10, 2008
Accepted: April 17, 2008
Published online: June 7, 2008
Abstract

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a common complication in patients with liver cirrhosis but its pathogenesis remains incompletely understood. Malnutrition is commonly encountered in patients with liver cirrhosis and it has been reported to affect the quality of life of this group of patients. Experimental studies suggest that low energy intake and poor nutritional status may facilitate the development of HE but there are scarce data on the potential role of malnutrition in HE in patients with liver cirrhosis. Two recently published studies have evaluated the potential role of malnutrition in the development of HE in cirrhotic patients with conflicting results. In this letter to the editor we briefly present the results of the two studies as well as potential reasons for the conflicting results reported.

Keywords: Hepatic encephalopathy; Liver cirrhosis; Malnutrition