Table 1. Demographics and clinical data of cirrhotic patients and healthy controls.
| Protocols | Controls (n = 25) | Non-HE (n = 27) | MHE (n = 20) | P value |
| Sex (M/F) | 13/12 | 20/7 | 13/7 | 0.252a |
| Age (±SD), y | 55±8(42–64) | 51±6 (41–64) | 55±7 (42–67) | 0.108b |
| DST (score) | 44.68±8.28 (26–66) | 40.11±8.80 (30–66) | 23.15±8.17 (9–37) | <0.01c |
| NCT-A (s) | 46.32±9.09 (31–64) | 45.78±8.53 (21–60) | 72.80±16.71 (67–140) | <0.01c |
| Venous ammonia (in µmol/L) | – | 51.10±33.54 (9–113) | 69.06±26.13 (9–109) | 0.072d |
| Child-Pugh scale | ||||
| A | – | 19 | 12 | |
| B | – | 6 | 8 | |
| C | – | 2 | 0 |
Values are expressed as mean ±SD. MHE = minimal hepatic encephalopathy; DST = digital symbol test; NCT-A = number connection test-A; Non-HE = non-hepatic encephalopathy.
a
The P value for gender distribution in the three groups was obtained by chi-square test.
b
The P value for age distribution in the three groups was obtained by one-way analysis of variance test.
c
The P value for difference of the neuropsychological test scores among the three groups was obtained by one-way analysis of variance test.
d
The P value for difference of venous blood ammonia between the two groups was obtained by two-sample t test.