PURPOSE: Subclinical hepatic encephalopathy (SHE) seems to be a common problem in liver cirrhosis, however, studies assessing the pathogenesis of this disease remain unclear. Currently no gold standard exists for the diagnosis of this complex neuropsychiatric syndrome. The present study was undertaken firstly to examine the diagnostic usefulness of auditory event-related cerebral potentials (ERPs) in the detection of SHE, and secondly to compare it with that of the most validated psychometric test. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 22 patients with liver cirrhosis without overt hepatic encephalopathy and 28 healthy controls were studied, using auditory ERPs. In addition they underwent a battery of neuropsychological and laboratory tests. RESULTS: P300 latency analysis turned out that cirrhotics patients had significantly longer P300 latency than controls. The only neuropsychological test showing significant difference between clinical and control group was the similarities subtest of WAIS-R. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study suggest that ERPs are more sensitive method than psychometric tests in detecting early changes in the brain function of patients with cirrhosis and for this reason this neurophysiological method should be applied in clinical practice.
PURPOSE: Subclinical hepatic encephalopathy (SHE) seems to be a common problem in liver cirrhosis, however, studies assessing the pathogenesis of this disease remain unclear. Currently no gold standard exists for the diagnosis of this complex neuropsychiatric syndrome. The present study was undertaken firstly to examine the diagnostic usefulness of auditory event-related cerebral potentials (ERPs) in the detection of SHE, and secondly to compare it with that of the most validated psychometric test. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 22 patients with liver cirrhosis without overt hepatic encephalopathy and 28 healthy controls were studied, using auditory ERPs. In addition they underwent a battery of neuropsychological and laboratory tests. RESULTS: P300 latency analysis turned out that cirrhotics patients had significantly longer P300 latency than controls. The only neuropsychological test showing significant difference between clinical and control group was the similarities subtest of WAIS-R. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study suggest that ERPs are more sensitive method than psychometric tests in detecting early changes in the brain function of patients with cirrhosis and for this reason this neurophysiological method should be applied in clinical practice.
Authors: Irena Ciećko-Michalska; Jan Wójcik; Magdalena Senderecka; Mirosław Wyczesany; Marek Binder; Jakub Szewczyk; Tomasz Dziedzic; Agnieszka Słowik; Tomasz Mach Journal: Med Sci Monit Date: 2013-04-19
Authors: Long Jiang Zhang; Rongfeng Qi; Jianhui Zhong; Ling Ni; Gang Zheng; Jian Xu; Guang Ming Lu Journal: PLoS One Date: 2013-01-07 Impact factor: 3.240