Case study: Serial VEP analysis useful in liver graft recipients

Hepatic encephalopathy can be a cause of postoperative visual loss, according to a case study. Serial visual evoked potential analysis can be a useful diagnostic tool for monitoring visual field functionality of liver graft recipients postoperatively, the authors of the case report noted.

Cigdem Arikan and colleagues described the case of a 5-year-old boy who had acute liver failure and stage 4 hepatic encephalopathy who underwent liver transplantation from a living relative. Postoperatively, the patient had hand motion visual acuity, which persisted. Visual evoked potential analysis was prolonged and a brain MRI showed bilateral parieto-occipital white matter signal abnormalities. All abnormalities resolved spontaneously.

The report is published in the November/December issue of Pediatric Transplantation.