Table 1.
Cross-sectional comparison of healthy controls† compared to cirrhotic patients
| Healthy Controls (n=51) | Cirrhosis (n=125) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Without prior OHE (n=82) | With prior OHE (n=43) | ||
| Age (years) | 55 ± 5 | 56 ± 6 | 57 ± 7 |
| Gender (Male/Female) | 30/21 | 51/31 | 28/15 |
| Race (Caucasian/African American/Hispanic/Other) | 34/11/5/1 | 54/21/7/0 | 31/11/2/0 |
| Education (years) | 14±2* | 13±2 | 13±2 |
| Etiology of cirrhosis (HCV/Alc/HCV+Alc/NASH/Other) | – | 47/8/4/16/8 | 21/3/6/6/7 |
| Venous ammonia (mg/dl) | – | 43 ± 23 | 48 ± 19 |
| Serum sodium (mmol/l) | – | 137 ± 16 | 137 ± 4 |
| MELD score | – | 9 ± 3 | 16 ± 7*** |
| Number connection-A (sec) | 27±7 | 37±19 | 52±25*** |
| Number connection-B (sec) | 69±29 | 105±77 | 168±110*** |
| Digit symbol (raw score) | 73±11 | 67±29 | 94±40*** |
| Serial Dotting (sec) | 51±12 | 57±16 | 45±17*** |
| Line Tracing (seconds) | 80±25 | 100±37 | 133±71*** |
| Line tracing errors (number) | 34±38 | 37±32 | 40±33 |
| Block Design (raw score) | 36±13 | 31±15 | 24±14** |
| ICT lures (number) | 7±5 | 10±8 | 14±8*** |
| ICT targets (% right) | 97±6 | 96±7 | 89±18*** |
| ICT random (number) | 6±2 | 8±4 | 14±15* |
| Weighted Lures (number) | 9±7 | 12±12 | 23±18*** |
| MHE using standard tests | – | 24 (29%) | 31 (72%)*** |
| MHE using weighted lures>22 | – | 15 (18%) | 18 (42%)*** |
| MHE using PHES >4 SD | – | 44 (54%) | 34 (79%)*** |
| Stroop App results | |||
| Total OffTime (sec) | 98±13 | 121±27 | 153±40*** |
| Median trials for 5 off correct runs (range) | 5 (5–9) | 5 (5–19) | 6 (5–17)* |
| Total OnTime (sec) | 119±17 | 148±38 | 198±63*** |
| Median trials for 5 on correct runs (range) | 5 (5–13) | 6 (5–16) | 6 (5–16)* |
| Total Ontime minus Offtime(sec) | 22±13 | 27±22 | 47±37*** |
| Total Ontime plus Offtime(sec) | 217±27 | 271±60 | 365±98*** |
*
:p=0.05 – 0.01,
***
:p<0.0001.
ICT: inhibitory control test, OHE: overt hepatic encephalopathy, PHES: psychometric hepatic encephalopathy score.
†
the healthy control results here are those who underwent the Stroop and PHES. The overall results of an additional 83 controls who underwent only the four standard tests and ICT are in the text. Standard Tests are the following: number connection-A/B, digit symbol and block design; two of which need to be abnormal to be considered MHE.