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Cognitive assessment of patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy in Brazil

Minimal hepatic encephalopathy is a syndrome caused by liver cirrhosis and accompanied by a broad spectrum of cognitive symptoms. The objective of the present study was to describe the prevalence of minimal hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhotic patients and to compare their cognitive performance with...

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Autores principales: Torres, D. S., Abrantes, J., Brandão‐Mello, C. E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer US 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3734603/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23625323
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11011-013-9405-3
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author Torres, D. S.
Abrantes, J.
Brandão‐Mello, C. E.
author_facet Torres, D. S.
Abrantes, J.
Brandão‐Mello, C. E.
author_sort Torres, D. S.
collection PubMed
description Minimal hepatic encephalopathy is a syndrome caused by liver cirrhosis and accompanied by a broad spectrum of cognitive symptoms. The objective of the present study was to describe the prevalence of minimal hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhotic patients and to compare their cognitive performance with controls using standardized tests. Patients receiving medication or experiencing comorbidities associated with cognitive disorders were excluded. The final cohort was compared with a control-matched group using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), as well as Simple Drawing, Clock Drawing, Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), Random Letter, Stroop, Trail-Making Test (TMT) A and B, Boston Naming, Category Verbal Fluency, Digit Span, Constructional Praxis, Processing Speed, and Similarities Tests. The results indicated no differences in the prevalence of cognitive complaints spontaneously reported by 29 patients with cirrhosis versus 22 healthy controls. The most affected tests included: MMSE (26.3 ± 2 vs. 28.1 ± 1.8 points; p = 0.004), learning (35.4 ± 9 vs. 41 ± 9.1 points; p = 0.041), retroactive interference (0.67 ± 0.22 vs. 0.84 ± 0.16 points; p = 0.004), and recognition (8.7 ± 2.6 vs. 11.2 ± 4.1 points; p = 0.024) in RAVLT, TMT-A (63.2 ± 29.3 vs. 47.6 ± 16.5 s; p = 0.029) and TMT-B (197.9 ± 88.1 vs. 146.8 ± 76.5 s; p = 0.03). No differences were observed with respect to age, gender, and education. In conclusion, MMSE proved to be a useful tool for detecting global cognitive impairment experienced by cirrhosis patients. Moreover, the most impaired cognitive functions were verbal episodic memory and information processing speed. These findings suggest that minimal hepatic encephalopathy represents a disorder that affects the medial temporal system and, possibly, the prefrontal cortex, and this requires further study.
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spelling pubmed-37346032013-08-08 Cognitive assessment of patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy in Brazil Torres, D. S. Abrantes, J. Brandão‐Mello, C. E. Metab Brain Dis Original Paper Minimal hepatic encephalopathy is a syndrome caused by liver cirrhosis and accompanied by a broad spectrum of cognitive symptoms. The objective of the present study was to describe the prevalence of minimal hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhotic patients and to compare their cognitive performance with controls using standardized tests. Patients receiving medication or experiencing comorbidities associated with cognitive disorders were excluded. The final cohort was compared with a control-matched group using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), as well as Simple Drawing, Clock Drawing, Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), Random Letter, Stroop, Trail-Making Test (TMT) A and B, Boston Naming, Category Verbal Fluency, Digit Span, Constructional Praxis, Processing Speed, and Similarities Tests. The results indicated no differences in the prevalence of cognitive complaints spontaneously reported by 29 patients with cirrhosis versus 22 healthy controls. The most affected tests included: MMSE (26.3 ± 2 vs. 28.1 ± 1.8 points; p = 0.004), learning (35.4 ± 9 vs. 41 ± 9.1 points; p = 0.041), retroactive interference (0.67 ± 0.22 vs. 0.84 ± 0.16 points; p = 0.004), and recognition (8.7 ± 2.6 vs. 11.2 ± 4.1 points; p = 0.024) in RAVLT, TMT-A (63.2 ± 29.3 vs. 47.6 ± 16.5 s; p = 0.029) and TMT-B (197.9 ± 88.1 vs. 146.8 ± 76.5 s; p = 0.03). No differences were observed with respect to age, gender, and education. In conclusion, MMSE proved to be a useful tool for detecting global cognitive impairment experienced by cirrhosis patients. Moreover, the most impaired cognitive functions were verbal episodic memory and information processing speed. These findings suggest that minimal hepatic encephalopathy represents a disorder that affects the medial temporal system and, possibly, the prefrontal cortex, and this requires further study. Springer US 2013-04-28 2013 /pmc/articles/PMC3734603/ /pubmed/23625323 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11011-013-9405-3 Text en © The Author(s) 2013 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/ Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Torres, D. S.
Abrantes, J.
Brandão‐Mello, C. E.
Cognitive assessment of patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy in Brazil
title Cognitive assessment of patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy in Brazil
title_full Cognitive assessment of patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy in Brazil
title_fullStr Cognitive assessment of patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy in Brazil
title_full_unstemmed Cognitive assessment of patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy in Brazil
title_short Cognitive assessment of patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy in Brazil
title_sort cognitive assessment of patients with minimal hepatic encephalopathy in brazil
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3734603/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23625323
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11011-013-9405-3
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