Frequency of minimal hepatic encepalopathy in illeterate patients with compensated cirrhosis

Objective: to determine frequency of minimal hepatic encephalopathy in illiterate patients with compensated cirrhosis. methods: illiterate patients with compensated cirrhosis with f4 score on shear-wave elastography were selected for study after informed consent. sample size was estimated at 106. selected patients were subjected to two tests for detection of mhe,number connection test a and block design test. patients taking ≥ 30 seconds were labelled as positive for mhe. result: out of 110 selected patients 10.9% were alcoholics and in 8.2% of patients no hepatic virus infection was detected. hcv was positive in 48.2% patients while hbv was positive in 13.6% of patients. mhe was detected in 72 (65.5%) of patients. major differences were found in mhe stage ii & iii by two tests. over all bdt detected more cases and gave higher staging in stage ii & iii as compared to nct-a test. conclusion: minimal hepatic encephalopathy (mhe) could be detected in illiterate patients using nct-a and bdt tests. � 2016,professional medical publications. all rights reserved.