Karyometric studies of astrocytes and nerve cells of the putamen in human hepatic encephalopathy

Nissl-stained specimen of the putamen of 49 autopsy cases with clinically and histologically proved chronic liver diseases were evaluated both morphometrically and densitometrically by means of the Microscopic Picture Analysis System A6471 (VEB Kombinat Robotron) using an interactive software system AMBA/R. Karyometric data of at least 50 astrocytes and the neurones in the same fields (72 on average) were checked for relations to the mean blood ammonia level in each case. The mean area of astrocyte nuclei, the proportion of their vacuolar areas, their mean compactness, and their mean extinction exhibit a significant correlation to the mean blood ammonia level (r1 = 0.4797, r2 = 0.6410, r3 = -0.5903, and r4 = -0.4897, respectively). No significant correlations could be found between the investigated parameters of neurones and the blood ammonia level.