Frequency of Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy (diagnosed on strop test) in Cirrhotic Patients

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) (diagnosed on strop test) in cirrhotic patients.
Methods: This study was done at Gastroenterology department of Shalamar Medical College, over a period of six months following the approval of the research proposal from May 2023 to April 2024. Patients aged over 20 years, both gender who were diagnosed with liver cirrhosis were included. Severity of liver disease was assessed using the Child-
Pugh classification. MHE was diagnosed using the Stroop Encephal App test. All the information was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 26.
Results: Overall mean age of the patients was 50.89+11.53 years, mean BMI was 26.89+4.96 Kg/m 2 . Out of all 53.7% were women and 46.3% were men. Hepatitis C was the most common cause of cirrhosis (70.3%). MHE was diagnosed in 41.9% patients. MHE was most common in patients with Child-Pugh Class A, followed by Class C, p =0.032. HCV was the leading cause among MHE patients, though etiology was not significantly linked to MHE (p = 0.105). Females were significantly more affected than males (p = 0.002).
Conclusion: MHE, diagnosed by the Stroop test, observed to be a common complication among patients with liver cirrhosis, particularly in those with hepatitis C infection, female gender, and more advanced Child-Pugh classes.