Acquired hepatocerebral degeneration in a patient with hepatitis B and hepatitis delta virus coinfection

Abstract

Acquired hepatocerebral degeneration is a neurological syndrome with typical clinical (extrapyramidal and neuropsychiatric) symptoms and brain magnetic resonance imaging findings (high T1 signal in the globus pallidus). It occurs mainly in patients with advanced liver disease, such as in patients co-infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis delta virus (HDV). However, there are no reports relating HBV/HDV coinfection and acquired hepatocerebral degeneration. This report presents the case of a 49-year-old woman with characteristics of acquired hepatocerebral degeneration and liver cirrhosis due to HBV/HDV coinfection, and presents the main theories of the physiopathology of this condition.