title: Psychometric hepatic encephalopathy score for the detection of minimal hepatic encephalopathy in Korean patients with liver cirrhosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although the Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score (PHES) for the diagnosis of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) has been validated in several countries, further validation is required for its use in different populations. The aims of this study were thus to standardize the PHES in a healthy Korean population and evaluate the prevalence of MHE among Korean patients with liver cirrhosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two-hundred healthy subjects without evidence of liver disease and 160 patients with liver cirrhosis without overt HE were included. Blood sampling for routine laboratory tests and determination of venous ammonia concentration was performed on the day of PHES neuropsychological testing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The age and education years of the control group were 41 ± 13 years and 13 ± 3 years, respectively; 100 of the subjects (50.0%) were men. The PHES for the control group was -0.31 ± 2.06 and the normal range was thus set at > -5 points. The age and education years of the liver cirrhosis group were 55 ± 8 and 11 ± 4 years, respectively; 102 of those in this group (63.8%) were men. Of the liver cirrhosis patients, 129 (80.6%), 21 (13.1%), and 10 (6.3%) had Child-Pugh grades A, B, and C, respectively. The PHES of the liver cirrhosis group was -2.94 ± 3.39. MHE was diagnosed in 41 patients (25.6%), of which 26 (20.2%), nine (42.9%), and six (60.0%) had Child-Pugh grades A, B, and C, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PHES was useful for detecting patients with MHE. A significant proportion of Korean patients with liver cirrhosis suffer from MHE.
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Yeon Seok
authors: YS
authors: Seo
authors: Sun Young
authors: SY
authors: Yim
authors: Jin Yong
authors: JY
authors: Jung
authors: Chang Ha
authors: CH
authors: Kim
authors: Jin Dong
authors: JD
authors: Kim
authors: Bora
authors: B
authors: Keum
authors: Hyonggin
authors: H
authors: An
authors: Hyung Joon
authors: HJ
authors: Yim
authors: Hong Sik
authors: HS
authors: Lee
authors: Chang Duck
authors: CD
authors: Kim
authors: Ho Sang
authors: HS
authors: Ryu
authors: Soon Ho
authors: SH
authors: Um
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000641:Ammonia / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006501:Hepatic Encephalopathy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000592:standards*; D015995:Prevalence; D011594:Psychometrics; D012015:Reference Standards; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000641:Ammonia