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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 14, 2021; 27(22): 3050-3063
Published online Jun 14, 2021. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i22.3050
Table 2 Diagnostic tools for the diagnosis of minimal hepatic encephalopathy
Test type
Test approach to differentiate MHE form unimpaired subjects
Formal neuropsychological; AssessmentNo standard battery for MHE has been designed, but could include test of attention, executive function, psychomotor ability, and speed information processing to evaluate cognition, and mental activity.
Neuropsychological EEG: Detect changes in cortical cerebral activity; Evoked potentials: Measurement of firing patterns of single cells or cell clusters.
Computerised SCAN test: Measures speed and accuracy to perform a digit recognition memory task of increasing complexity; CFF: Degree of vigilance; CRT: Relies on the repeated registration of the motor reaction time to auditory stimuli. Measures the stability of the reaction time; Stroop test: Evaluates psychomotor speed and cognitive flexibility; ICT: Test of response inhibition and working memory.
ImagingMRI: Through mean kurtosis values, evaluates six regions of interest, and amplitude of low frequency fluctuation values, which correlate with PHES values.
Short neuropsychological batteries PHES: Evaluates cognitive/psychomotor processing speed and visuomotor coordination (NCT-A, NCT-B, SDT, LTT, DST); ANT: Cognitive function related to prefrontal anterior/cortex cortical areas.