Multifactorial non-cirrhotic hyperammonaemic encephalopathy

A 51-year-old female presented with acute confusion associated with a non-specific headache and lethargy. The patient's history included bipolar disorder on valproate and recent travel to northern Vietnam. The patient was subsequently found to have hyperammonaemia as well as a urinary tract inf...

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Main Authors: Triplett, K., Murray, R., Anstey, Matthew
Format: Journal Article
Published: British Medical Journal Publishing Group 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/67879
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author Triplett, K.
Murray, R.
Anstey, Matthew
author_facet Triplett, K.
Murray, R.
Anstey, Matthew
author_sort Triplett, K.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description A 51-year-old female presented with acute confusion associated with a non-specific headache and lethargy. The patient's history included bipolar disorder on valproate and recent travel to northern Vietnam. The patient was subsequently found to have hyperammonaemia as well as a urinary tract infection and bacteraemia with Klebsiellapneumoniae. The patient was presumed to have a multifactorial non-cirrhotic hyperammonaemic encephalopathy due to a combination of a urinary tract infection and bacteraemia with K. pneumoniae, a urease-producing bacteria, and also valproate use, a medication known to interfere with ammonia elimination. The patient's treatment included supportive care, ceasing valproate, empiric then rationalised antibiotics, N-acetylcysteine and L-carnitine. We present a case of non-cirrhotic hyperammonaemic encephalopathy and explain why it is multifactorial in origin.
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publishDate 2018
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-678792018-09-19T01:40:35Z Multifactorial non-cirrhotic hyperammonaemic encephalopathy Triplett, K. Murray, R. Anstey, Matthew A 51-year-old female presented with acute confusion associated with a non-specific headache and lethargy. The patient's history included bipolar disorder on valproate and recent travel to northern Vietnam. The patient was subsequently found to have hyperammonaemia as well as a urinary tract infection and bacteraemia with Klebsiellapneumoniae. The patient was presumed to have a multifactorial non-cirrhotic hyperammonaemic encephalopathy due to a combination of a urinary tract infection and bacteraemia with K. pneumoniae, a urease-producing bacteria, and also valproate use, a medication known to interfere with ammonia elimination. The patient's treatment included supportive care, ceasing valproate, empiric then rationalised antibiotics, N-acetylcysteine and L-carnitine. We present a case of non-cirrhotic hyperammonaemic encephalopathy and explain why it is multifactorial in origin. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/67879 10.1136/bcr-2017-223245 British Medical Journal Publishing Group restricted
spellingShingle Triplett, K.
Murray, R.
Anstey, Matthew
Multifactorial non-cirrhotic hyperammonaemic encephalopathy
title Multifactorial non-cirrhotic hyperammonaemic encephalopathy
title_full Multifactorial non-cirrhotic hyperammonaemic encephalopathy
title_fullStr Multifactorial non-cirrhotic hyperammonaemic encephalopathy
title_full_unstemmed Multifactorial non-cirrhotic hyperammonaemic encephalopathy
title_short Multifactorial non-cirrhotic hyperammonaemic encephalopathy
title_sort multifactorial non-cirrhotic hyperammonaemic encephalopathy
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/67879