Abstract #2642

Lodi R, Tonon C, Malucelli E, Manners D, Barbiroli B, Testa C

Previous studies have shown that water ADC is significantly increased in different brain regions of cirrhotic patients being higher in patients with higher venous ammonium. We investigated the relationship between changes in brain ADC and the content of glutamine (Gln) in cirrhotic patients studied by combined 1H-MRS and DWI. Both brain ADC values and Gln/Cr were increased in cirrhotic patients and ADC values correlated positively with Gln/Cr. These findings show that in cirrhotics increased brain cell water content is secondary to brain glutamine accumulation that has been associated to glial swelling in experimental models of hepatic encephalopathy