Hepatic injury correlates with neuropsychologic impairment.
Five liver injury measures (albumin, prothrombin time, gamma globulin, indocyanine green clearance and serum ammonia) were correlated with neuropsychologic test performance in a group of 79 nonalcoholic cirrhotic patients. Employing linear regression analysis techniques revealed that these five measures, particularly albumin and prothrombin time, could explain a significant amount of the variance on neuropsychological tests. The results indicate that functional liver status, even where there is no overt evidence of hepatic encephalopathy, is related to cognitive capacity.
Tarter
R E
RE
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical School, PA.
Sandford
S L
SL
Hays
A L
AL
Carra
J P
JP
Van Thiel
D H
DH
D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects; D012044:Regression Analysis