Metabolic tests (blood levels of electrolytes, glucose, lactate, ammonia,

oxygen, and liver enzymes)

Drugs or toxin levels (alcohol, cocaine, amphetamines, and many others)
Blood and body fluid cultures and analyses (infections of many types)
Creatinine (kidney function)
CT and MRI scans (brain swelling, anatomical abnormalities, or infections)
Doppler ultrasound (abnormal blood flow to tissues or abscesses)
Encephalogram or EEG (brain damage or abnormal brain wave patterns)
Autoantibody analysis (dementia caused by antibodies that destroy neurons)
Review of the person's medications as some medications (for example,
cyclosporine) may be responsible for symptoms
This list is not exhaustive, and not all of the above tests need to be done on
every patient. Specific testing is usually ordered by the treating physician
according to the symptoms and history of the patient

What is the treatment for encephalopathy?

Treatment of encephalopathy varies with the primary cause of the symptoms.
Consequently, not all cases of encephalopathy are treated the same.
Some examples of different "encephalopathy treatments" for different causes:
Short-term anoxia (usually less than two minutes): oxygen therapy
Long-term anoxia: rehabilitation
Short-term alcohol toxicity: IV fluids or no therapy
Long-term alcohol abuse (cirrhosis or chronic liver failure): oral lactulose,
low-protein diet, antibiotics
Uremic encephalopathy (due to kidney failure): correct the underlying
physiologic cause, dialysis, kidney transplant
Diabetic encephalopathy: administer glucose to treat hypoglycemia, insulin to
treat hyperglycemia
Hypo- or hypertensive encephalopathy: medications to raise (for hypotensive)
or reduce (for hypertensive) blood pressure
The key to treatment of any encephalopathy is to understand the basic cause and
thus design a treatment scheme to reduce or eliminate the cause(s). There is one
type of encephalopathy that is difficult or impossible to treat; it is static
encephalopathy (an altered mental state or brain damage that is permanent). The
best that can be done with static encephalopathy is, if possible, to prevent
further damage and implement rehabilitation to allow the individual to perform at
his or her highest possible functional level

What are the complications of encephalopathy?

Complications of encephalopathy vary from none to profound mental impairments that
lead to death. The complications can be similar in some cases. Also, many
investigators consider encephalopathy itself to be a complication that arises from
a primary health problem or primary diagnosis.
Complications depend on the primary cause of encephalopathy and can be illustrated
by citing a few examples from the wide variety of causes:
Hepatic (liver) encephalopathy (brain swelling with herniation, coma, death)
Metabolic encephalopathy (irritability, lethargy, depression, tremors;
occasionally, coma or death)
Anoxic encephalopathy (wide range of complications, from none in short-term
anoxia to personality changes, severe brain damage to death in long-term anoxic
events)
Uremic encephalopathy (lethargy, hallucinations, stupor, muscle twitching,
seizures, death)
Hashimoto's encephalopathy (confusion, heat intolerance, dementia)
Wernicke's encephalopathy (mental confusion, memory loss, decreased ability
to move eyes)
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or "mad cow disease" (ataxia,
dementia, and myoclonus or muscle twitching without any rhythm or pattern)
Shigella encephalopathy (headache, stiff neck, delirium, seizures, coma)