Improvement of regional cerebral blood flow after oral intake of branched-chain amino acids in patients with cirrhosis

Figure 1 Study protocol. Baseline SPECT imaging was taken 10 min after the injection of 278 MBq ECD. After baseline SPECT, BCAA granules or placebo were orally administered. Sixty minutes later, another 278 MBq of technetium-99 m ECD was intravenously administered and a second SPECT acquisition was performed 10 min after the injection of ECD. Laboratory and neuropsychological tests were taken before and after the administration of BCAA or placebo. SPECT, single photon emission computed tomography; ECD, ethyl cysteinate dimer; BCAA, branched-chain amino acid