Cerebral CT scan abnormalities in cholestatic and hepatocellular disease and their relationship to neuropsychologic test performance.

Forty-nine nonalcoholic cirrhotic patients, on whom cranial CT scans were available, were administered a battery of neuropsychological tests. Although none of the subjects exhibited clinical signs or symptoms of hepatic encephalopathy, quantification of the CT scan image implicated cerebral edema and cortical atrophy. In addition numerous significant correlations were observed between the CT variables and neuropsychological test performance. The findings are conjectured to reflect previously unrecognized cerebral morphologic changes associated with chronic subclinical portal-systemic encephalopathy.