Review
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World J Gastroenterol. Aug 28, 2014; 20(32): 11262-11272
Published online Aug 28, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i32.11262
Multimodality magnetic resonance imaging in hepatic encephalopathy: An update
Xiao-Dong Zhang, Long-Jiang Zhang, Sheng-Yong Wu, Guang-Ming Lu
Xiao-Dong Zhang, Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing Clinical School, Southern Medical University, Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu Province, China
Xiao-Dong Zhang, Long-Jiang Zhang, Guang-Ming Lu, Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu Province, China
Sheng-Yong Wu, Department of Radiology, Medical Imaging Institute of Tianjin, Tianjin 300192, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to this work; Zhang LJ and Lu GM designed the research; Zhang XD, Zhang LJ, Wu SY and Lu GM wrote the paper.
Supported by Grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China, Nos. 30700194, 81171313, 81322020 and 81230032 (to Zhang LJ); and Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University, No. NCET-12-0260 (to Zhang LJ)
Correspondence to: Long-Jiang Zhang, Associate Professor, Department of Medical Imaging, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, No. 305 Zhongshan East Road, Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu Province, China. kevinzhlj@163.com
Telephone: +86-25-80860185 Fax: +86-25-80860185
Received: October 26, 2013
Revised: January 29, 2014
Accepted: May 28, 2014
Published online: August 28, 2014
Processing time: 306 Days and 18.5 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Multimodality magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is an effective and feasible research tool to uncover the pathophysiological mechanism of hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Among these MR imaging techniques, functional MR imaging method can be the most promising tool for studying HE. Nevertheless, the combination of functional MR imaging and other advanced MR techniques can be helpful to understand HE in the future.