الفهرس 
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Abstract
Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) represents the mildest type of hepatic encephalopathy (HE). MHE is considered as a preclinical stage of HE and is part of a wide spectrum of typical neurocognitive alterations characteristic of patients with liver cirrhosis, particularly involving the areas of attention, alertness, response inhibition, and executive functions. MHE is very frequent, affecting from 20% up to 80% of patients tested, depending of the diagnostic tools used. Although subclinical, MHE is considered to be clinically relevant. In fact, MHE has been related to the patients’ falls, fitness to drive, and working ability. As a consequence, MHE affects the patients and caregivers lives by altering their quality of life and even their socioeconomic status. Sarcopenia, a very common condition in patients with advanced liver disease, has been shown to be strictly related to both minimal and overt HE. This current study was conducted to verify the concordance between sarcopenia - determined by CT scan - and the risk of hepatic encephalopathy. Also, this study aimed to evaluate the correlation between ammonia level and sarcopenia. This study was conducted over a period of 1 year in the internal Medicine Department, Mansoura University Hospitals, Mansoura city, Egypt. This study involved 60 patients HCV-related CLD and they were divided into two groups; group (1) that included 25 cases with no sarcopenia and group (2) that included 35 cases with sarcopenia. After obtaining of written informed consent from all the cases and approval by the institutional review board, Mansoura Faculty of medicine, all the cases were subjected to full history taking and full clinical examination (general and local abdominal examination).