title: Frontal assessment battery: A tool for screening minimal hepatic encephalopathy?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To apply the Frontal Assessment Battery to cirrhotic patients with or without overt hepatic encephalopathy (OHE) and controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  The frontal assessment battery (FAB) was applied to 87 patients with liver cirrhosis (16 with and 71 without OHE) and 40 control subjects without cirrhosis treated at the alcohol and liver outpatient clinics and the gastroenterology ward of the Cassiano Antônio de Moraes University Hospital (Hospital Universitário Cassiano Antônio de Moraes - HUCAM), Espírito Santo, Brazil.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average FAB score was lower for the cirrhotic than for the non-cirrhotic patients (10.6 ± 3.67vs12.25 ± 2.72,P= 0.015). The FAB score was lower for the cirrhotic patients with OHE than for the patients without OHE (8.25 ± 4.55vs11.14 ± 3.25,P= 0.027). The total FAB score was lower for the cirrhotic patients without OHE than for the non-cirrhotic patients, although this difference was not significant (11.14 ± 3.25vs12.25 ± 2.72,P= 0.067). Nevertheless, the difference in the scores on the subtest that assessed the ability to inhibit a response previously conditioned to a stimulus was significant (1.72 ± 0.93vs2.2 ± 0.85,P= 0.011).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study indicates that the FAB is a promising tool for outpatient minimal HE screening and the assessment of HE severity.
authors.affiliation: Karina Zamprogno de Souza, Maria Penha Zago-Gomes, the Center of Health Science, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória 29043-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Karina Zamprogno
authors.initials: KZ
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.affiliation: Karina Zamprogno de Souza, Maria Penha Zago-Gomes, the Center of Health Science, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória 29043-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Penha
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Zago-Gomes
keywords: Executive functions; Frontal assessment battery; Frontal lobe; Hepatic encephalopathy; Liver cirrhosis; Minimal hepatic encephalopathy