Hepatic Injury Correlates with Neuropsychologic Impairment

Abstract

Five liver injury measures (albumin, prothrombin time, gamma globulin, indocyanine green clearance and serum ammonia) were correlated with neuropsychologic test performance in a group of 79 nonalcoholic cirrhotic patients. Employing linear regression analysis techniques revealed that these five measures, particularly albumin and prothrombin time, could explain a significant amount of the variance on neuropsychological tests. The results indicate that functional liver status, even where there is no overt evidence of hepatic encephalopathy, is related to cognitive capacity.

Key Words:

• Hepatic injury
• Neuropsychological impairment