Hepatic myelopathy as a presenting neurological complication in patients with cirrhosis and spontaneous splenorenal shunt

Liver Transplantation Reverses Hepatic Myelopathy in the Decompensated Phase of Cirrhosis: Case Report and Literature Review

Hepatic myelopathy (HM) is a rare neurological complication in the end stage of many liver diseases and is characterized by bilateral spastic paraparesis without sensory and sphincter dysfunction. It occurs owing to metabolic disorders and central nervous system dysfunction associated with cirrhosis. Without timely and effective clinical intervention, the prognosis of these patients is devastating. Although liver transplantation (LT) is an effective treatment for HM, the prognosis of these patients remains unsatisfactory. Early recognition and diagnosis of this disease are essential for improving patient prognosis. Here, we report a case of hepatitis B virus-associated decompensated cirrhosis with HM. The patient recovered well after LT. We also summarize the clinical characteristics and post-transplant outcomes of 25 patients with HM treated by LT through 2023, including this case.

Predictive Accuracy Comparison of Prognostic Scoring Systems for Survival in Patients Undergoing TIPS Placement: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES

This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the performance of different risk assessment models (RAMs) for survival after Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS) in patients with cirrhotic portal hypertension.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A systematic search of PubMed, WOS, Embase, Cochrane, and CNKI from inception to February 2023 was conducted. We comprehensively reviewed and aggregated data from numerous studies covering prevalent RAMs such as Child-Turcotte-Pugh, the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD), MELD-Sodium (MELD-Na), the Freiburg Index of Post-TIPS Survival (FIPS), Bilirubin-platelet, Chronic Liver Failure Consortium Acute Decompensation score, and Albumin-Bilirubin grade across different timeframes. For this study, short-term is defined as outcomes within a year while long-term refers to outcomes beyond one year. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC) curve or Concordance Statistics was chosen as the metric to assess predictive capacity for mortality outcomes across six predetermined time intervals. Mean effect sizes at various time points were determined using robust variance estimation.

RESULTS

MELD consistently stood out as a primary short-term survival predictor, particularly for 1 month (± 2 weeks) (AUC: 0.72) and 3 months of (± 1 month) survival (AUC: 0.72). MELD-Na showed the best long-term predictive ability, with an AUC of 0.70 at 3.5 years (± 1.5 years). FIPS performed well for 6 months of (± 2 months) survival (AUC: 0.68) and overall transplant-free survival (AUC: 0.75). Efficacy nuances were observed in RAMs when applied to particular subgroups. Meta-regression emphasized the potential predictor overlaps in models like MELD and FIPS.

CONCLUSION

This meta-analysis underscores the MELD score as the premier predictor for short-term survival following TIPS. Meanwhile, the FIPS score and MELD-Na model exhibit potential in forecasting long-term outcomes. The study accentuates the significance of RAM selection for enhancing patient outcomes and advocates for additional research to corroborate these findings and fine-tune risk assessment in TIPS.

Spontaneous remission of hepatic myelopathy in a patient with alcoholic cirrhosis: A case report

BACKGROUND

Hepatic myelopathy (HM) is a rare neurological complication of advanced cirrhosis. Prognosis of patients with HM is generally poor without timely liver transplantation or interventional therapy. Self-resolving HM in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis has never been reported.

CASE SUMMARY

A 53-year-old man with alcoholic cirrhosis and recurrent overt hepatic encephalopathy for 1 year was admitted for lower extremity weakness, slow movement, and stumbling gait. The patient was diagnosed with HM after excluding other causes of spastic paraparesis. The patient refused liver transplantation. However, the patient kept total abstinence and received a multidisciplinary treatment for complications of decompensated cirrhosis. The symptoms of HM resolved gradually after 2 years of treatment. All complications of alcoholic cirrhosis resolved after 4 years of follow-up.

CONCLUSION

The case demonstrates that HM can resolve in patients without liver transplan-tation after total abstinence and systemic management of complications.

EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines on the management of hepatic encephalopathy

The EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) on the management of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) present evidence-based answers to a set of relevant questions (where possible, formulated in PICO [patient/population, intervention, comparison and outcomes] format) on the definition, diagnosis, differential diagnosis and treatment of HE. The document does not cover the pathophysiology of HE and does not cover all available treatment options. The methods through which it was developed and any information relevant to its interpretation are also provided.

Benefits of Early Treatment for Patients with Hepatic Myelopathy Secondary to TIPS: A Retrospective Study in Northern China

Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is an effective therapy for reducing portal pressure. Hepatic myelopathy (HM), a rare complication of chronic liver diseases, remains obscure in terms of treatment and prognosis. We aimed to determine an optimal treat strategy for patients with HM after TIPS. Twenty-nine patients who developed HM after TIPS were stratified by time-lapse from onset to treatment: group A (n = 16), <6 months; group B (n = 13), ≥6 months. Therapeutic measures included shunt-limiting and medical treatments. Overall survival, lower-limb muscle strength, Fugl-Meyer score, Barthel index, and serum ammonia were recorded. Median survival time in group A or B was 30 months or 16.5 months, respectively (log rank p = 0.0172). All patients in group A obtained improvement in grading of muscle strength (p < 0.0001), Fugl-Meyer score (p = 0.0021), and Barthel index (p = 0.0003), particularly male patients and those subjected to shunt-limiting. Serum ammonia levels were decreased significantly in both group A (p = 0.0007) and group B (p = 0.0007). Collectively, once HM is confirmed after TIPS, active intervention is imperative and urgent, especially within the first 6 months from onset of symptom. TIPS shunt-limiting is particularly beneficial for rehabilitation in patients with early-onset HM.

State of the art of management of hepatic myelopathy

Hepatic myelopathy (HM) is characterized by progressive weakness and spasticity of the lower extremities, which is a severe spinal cord involvement rarely occurring in patients with cirrhosis or other chronic liver diseases. The diagnosis is assigned after the exclusion of other clinical entities leading to spastic paraparesis. Liver transplantation represents a potentially treatment for HM in early stage.

Evaluation of mid- and long-term efficacy of shunt limiting for hepatic myelopathy after transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt

BACKGROUND

Hepatic myelopathy (HM) is a rare condition caused by severe liver dysfunction, and may be secondary to transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS). This study aimed to evaluate the mid- and long-term clinical efficacy of TIPS reduction (TIPSR) for treatment of HM secondary to TIPS.

METHODS

Patients who underwent TIPS (n=1325) for severe portal hypertension between August 2002 and August 2013 at the Affiliated Beijing Millennium Monument Hospital, Capital Medical University (Beijing, China) were reviewed. During follow-up, 22 patients were diagnosed with HM, and 12 underwent TIPSR. Patients were evaluated using the Barthel index (daily activities), the Lovette's Six Classification (lower extremity muscle strength), and the Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA; lower extremity activity). Hepatic encephalopathy grade was used to assess the severity of clinical symptoms.

RESULTS

TIPSR did not affect portal vein pressure (31.6±6.2 vs. 33.3±7.9mmHg, P=0.55). Blood ammonia levels were 77.9±17.9mmol/L before TIPSR and 77.9±14.8, 73.5±21.5, 59.5±14.5, and 52.0±16.5mmol/L at 1, 3, 6, and 12months (P<0.05 for 6 and 12months vs. baseline). The Barthel index was improved 6months after TIPSR (42.1±10.5 vs. 45.0±8.8, P<0.05), while FMA was improved 3months after TIPSR only (24.6±3.2 vs. 25.5±3.2, P<0.05). Lovette's Six Classification was improved 12months after TIPSR (2.1±0.7 vs. 2.8±0.9, P<0.05). After TIPS, hepatic encephalopathy grade was I (n=3), II (n=6), III (n=2), or IV (n=1), and was I (n=8), II (n=1), or III (n=1) at 6months.

CONCLUSION

TIPSR can improve the mid- and long-term symptoms of HM secondary to TIPS.

Neurologic Manifestations of Chronic Liver Disease and Liver Cirrhosis

The normal functioning of brain is intimately as well as intricately interrelated with normal functioning of the liver. Liver plays a critical role of not only providing vital nutrients to the brain but also of detoxifying the splanchnic blood. Compromised liver function leads to insufficient detoxification thus allowing neurotoxins (such as ammonia, manganese, and other chemicals) to enter the cerebral circulation. In addition, portosystemic shunts, which are common accompaniments of advanced liver disease, facilitate free passage of neurotoxins into the cerebral circulation. The problem is compounded further by additional variables such as gastrointestinal tract bleeding, malnutrition, and concurrent renal failure, which are often associated with liver cirrhosis. Neurologic damage in chronic liver disease and liver cirrhosis seems to be multifactorial primarily attributable to the following: brain accumulation of ammonia, manganese, and lactate; altered permeability of the blood-brain barrier; recruitment of monocytes after microglial activation; and neuroinflammation, that is, direct effects of circulating systemic proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor, IL-1β, and IL-6. Radiologist should be aware of the conundrum of neurologic complications that can be encountered in liver disease, which include hepatic encephalopathy, hepatocerebral degeneration, hepatic myelopathy, cirrhosis-related parkinsonism, cerebral infections, hemorrhage, and osmotic demyelination. In addition, neurologic complications can be exclusive to certain disorders, for example, Wilson disease, alcoholism (Wernicke encephalopathy, alcoholic cerebellar degeneration, Marchiafava-Bignami disease, etc). Radiologist should be aware of their varied clinical presentation and radiological appearances as the diagnosis is not always straightforward.

Central motor and sensory conduction in patients with hepatic myelopathy

STUDY DESIGN

Experimental neurophysiological study.

OBJECTIVES

The hepatic myelopathy (HM) is characterized by progressive weakness and spasticity of the lower extremities, while there are only a few reports of sensory impairment. However, sensory function has been poorly explored in HM. We believe that an electrophysiological assessment of dorsal columns by somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) and of cortico-spinal lateral tracts by motor evoked potentials (MEPs) should be of considerable value in the functional evaluation of the spinal cord involvement in patients with HM.

SETTING

Salzburg (Austria) and Merano (Italy).

METHODS

Eight patients diagnosed with HM were studied with MEPs and SEPs. Neurological examination revealed different degrees of cortico-spinal tract involvement in all patients and sensory abnormalities in three patients.

RESULTS

Central motor conduction to lower limb muscles was abnormal in all patients, while central sensory conduction was abnormal in seven out of the eight patients. Both central motor and sensory conduction to upper limbs are normal in all patients.

CONCLUSION

The main finding is that electrophysiological evidence of central sensory involvement is present in a very high percentage of patients with HM, and that the threshold for electrophysiological abnormalities is below that for clinical manifestations. Therefore, central sensory and motor conduction studies are sensitive methods for detecting, localizing and monitoring spinal cord damage in HM.

Spinal cord involvement in patients with cirrhosis

A severe spinal cord involvement may rarely occur in patients with cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases; this complication is usually associated with overt liver failure and surgical or spontaneous porto-systemic shunt. Hepatic myelopathy (HM) is characterized by progressive weakness and spasticity of the lower extremities, while sensory and sphincter disturbances have rarely been described and are usually less important. The diagnosis is assigned in the appropriate clinical setting on clinical grounds after the exclusion of other clinical entities leading to spastic paraparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging is often unremarkable; however, also intracerebral corticospinal tract abnormalities have been reported recently. The study of motor evoked potentials may disclose central conduction abnormalities even before HM is clinically manifest. HM responds poorly to blood ammonia-lowering and other conservative medical therapy. Liver transplantation represents a potentially definitive treatment for HM in patients with decompensated cirrhosis of Child-Pugh B and C grades. Other surgical treatment options in HM include surgical ligation, shunt reduction, or occlusion by interventional procedures.

Human alcohol-related neuropathology

Alcohol-related diseases of the nervous system are caused by excessive exposures to alcohol, with or without co-existing nutritional or vitamin deficiencies. Toxic and metabolic effects of alcohol (ethanol) vary with brain region, age/developmental stage, dose, and duration of exposures. In the mature brain, heavy chronic or binge alcohol exposures can cause severe debilitating diseases of the central and peripheral nervous systems, and skeletal muscle. Most commonly, long-standing heavy alcohol abuse leads to disproportionate loss of cerebral white matter and impairments in executive function. The cerebellum (especially the vermis), cortical-limbic circuits, skeletal muscle, and peripheral nerves are also important targets of chronic alcohol-related metabolic injury and degeneration. Although all cell types within the nervous system are vulnerable to the toxic, metabolic, and degenerative effects of alcohol, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and synaptic terminals are major targets, accounting for the white matter atrophy, neural inflammation and toxicity, and impairments in synaptogenesis. Besides chronic degenerative neuropathology, alcoholics are predisposed to develop severe potentially life-threatening acute or subacute symmetrical hemorrhagic injury in the diencephalon and brainstem due to thiamine deficiency, which exerts toxic/metabolic effects on glia, myelin, and the microvasculature. Alcohol also has devastating neurotoxic and teratogenic effects on the developing brain in association with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder/fetal alcohol syndrome. Alcohol impairs function of neurons and glia, disrupting a broad array of functions including neuronal survival, cell migration, and glial cell (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes) differentiation. Further progress is needed to better understand the pathophysiology of this exposure-related constellation of nervous system diseases and better correlate the underlying pathology with in vivo imaging and biochemical lesions.

Human alcohol-related neuropathology

Alcohol-related diseases of the nervous system are caused by excessive exposures to alcohol, with or without co-existing nutritional or vitamin deficiencies. Toxic and metabolic effects of alcohol (ethanol) vary with brain region, age/developmental stage, dose, and duration of exposures. In the mature brain, heavy chronic or binge alcohol exposures can cause severe debilitating diseases of the central and peripheral nervous systems, and skeletal muscle. Most commonly, long-standing heavy alcohol abuse leads to disproportionate loss of cerebral white matter and impairments in executive function. The cerebellum (especially the vermis), cortical-limbic circuits, skeletal muscle, and peripheral nerves are also important targets of chronic alcohol-related metabolic injury and degeneration. Although all cell types within the nervous system are vulnerable to the toxic, metabolic, and degenerative effects of alcohol, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and synaptic terminals are major targets, accounting for the white matter atrophy, neural inflammation and toxicity, and impairments in synaptogenesis. Besides chronic degenerative neuropathology, alcoholics are predisposed to develop severe potentially life-threatening acute or subacute symmetrical hemorrhagic injury in the diencephalon and brainstem due to thiamine deficiency, which exerts toxic/metabolic effects on glia, myelin, and the microvasculature. Alcohol also has devastating neurotoxic and teratogenic effects on the developing brain in association with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder/fetal alcohol syndrome. Alcohol impairs function of neurons and glia, disrupting a broad array of functions including neuronal survival, cell migration, and glial cell (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes) differentiation. Further progress is needed to better understand the pathophysiology of this exposure-related constellation of nervous system diseases and better correlate the underlying pathology with in vivo imaging and biochemical lesions.

Portosystemic myelopathy: a rare neurological presentation of portosystemic shunts

Portosystemic myelopathy is an unusual complication in patients with chronic liver disease with hepatic encephalopathy and portosystemic shunts. Here we present a case of 35-year-old male patient who presented to us with difficulty in walking and progressive stiffness in both lower limbs for two months. He had undergone splenectomy with distal splenorenal shunt 20 years back. On physical examination, he had spasticity in both lower limbs of grade 3, with minimal pyramidal weakness in lower limbs, brisk knee and ankle jerks. The plantar response was extensor. Upper limb examination was normal. On investigations, he had hypoalbuminemia, hyperbilirubinemia, increased plasma ammonia levels. Contrast enhanced CT scan abdomen revealed dilated splenorenal shunt and MRI spine showed no spinal cord compression. Electromyoneurogram was also normal. Spastic paraparesis due to portosystemic shunts was diagnosed. Liver transplantation can reverse the myelopathy only in earlier stages, hence early and accurate diagnosis is important.

Treatment of portosystemic shunt myelopathy with a stent graft deployed through a transjugular intrahepatic route

A case of surgically created splenorenal shunt complicated with shunt myelopathy was successfully managed by placement of a stent graft within the splenic vein to close the portosystemic shunt and alleviate myelopathy. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a case of shunt myelopathy in a patient with noncirrhotic portal fibrosis without cirrhosis treated by a novel technique wherein a transjugular intrahepatic route was adopted to deploy the stent graft.

Use of model for end-stage liver disease exception points for early liver transplantation and successful reversal of hepatic myelopathy with a review of the literature

Hepatic myelopathy (HM) is a rarely reported disorder characterized by progressive spastic paraparesis due to impaired corticospinal tract function in the setting of cirrhosis or portosystemic shunting. HM has not to date been recognized as a Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) exception for transplantation. Outcomes for a small number of patients from Europe and Asia who have undergone liver transplantation (LT) for HM suggest a potential neurological benefit, especially with earlier transplantation. We report the first use of MELD exception points for the condition of HM to enable early LT resulting in the reversal of marked spastic paraparesis. Our patient, whose myelopathy had markedly progressed without further hepatic decompensation, underwent LT 14 months after the diagnosis of HM with an adjusted MELD score of 30, which was granted as a United Network for Organ Sharing exception. After LT, there was significant neurological improvement as the patient progressed from wheelchair dependency to full ambulation. We reviewed the literature of other HM patients who had undergone LT. With our patient, there were in all 15 reported cases of LT in individuals with HM. LT can lead to a marked improvement in HM, particularly in the earlier clinical stages of the disorder. Early LT can be accomplished, as in our case, by the submission of an appeal for a MELD upgrade.