title: [The role of neuropsychological testing and electroencephalogram for early detection of minimal hepatic encephalopathy].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Minimal hepatic encephalopathy in patients with clinically asymptomatic chronic progressive liver disease may have adverse effects on daily activity. We evaluated the differences in the cognitive function of patients with chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis group according to the Child-Pugh classification.
  
  
  METHODS
  We enrolled 61 consecutive chronic liver disease patients. We used the following study instruments: visual continuous performance test, a spatial memory test, the Wisconsin card-sorting test chosen from Neuroscan and STIM system (Study of the Usefulness of Computerized Neuropsychological Test, Neurosoft company, New York, NY, USA), a global-local processing test and an electroencephalogram (EEG).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant correlation was found between neurologic abnormalities and the degree of liver disease. The result of the neuropsychological test and the EEG showed that cognitive function decreased according to the severity of chronic liver disease, especially in liver cirrhosis. Cirrhotic patients, especially in Child-Pugh C group, exhibited selective deficits in complex attention and fine motor skills as well as visual spatial perception, with preservation of memory.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The STIM and EEG are simple, subjective and reproducible methods and may be used as early detection methods of minimal hepatic encephalopathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Hanyang University Medical College, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Choon Shik
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Byung Ik
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Min Ho
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ho Soon
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Seok Hyeon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dong Hyun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Ahn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003071:Cognition; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006501:Hepatic Encephalopathy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests