The burden of hepatic encephalopathy in Latin America

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a neuropsychiatric syndrome characterized by changes in cognitive function, behavior, and personality, as well as by transient neurological symptoms and electroencephalographic changes, which occur in the context of acute or chronic liver failure. Cirrhosis is the main disease associated to HE, and it is known that its incidence is increasing worldwide. As a cause of mortality, cirrhosis is ranked 14 worldwide, but 10 in developed countries. It has been demonstrated that the incidence of liver disease is increasing, in part because of the ascending prevalence of NAFLD, HCV, HCC, as well of alcohol consumption. The real incidence of cirrhosis in Latin America is unknown, although in some Latin American countries that provided national data, cirrhosis death rates were between 5 and 17/100,000 for men and 3 and 5/100,000 for women. Disability, quality of life, and social aspects should be considered when assessing the impact of a disease. In this context, preliminary estimates of the global burden of disease attributable to chronic liver disease seem to be substantial. Hepatic encephalopathy, a main complication of liver failure, occurs in 30-45% of patients as overt encephalopathy, but when subclinical or minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is considered, estimates of the incidence of encephalopathy vary from 20 to 60%. In USA, the 2009 NIH Report on the Costs of Digestive Diseases stated that liver disease was the second most costly disease in direct and indirect costs (13.1 billion dollars). Although the economic cost of HE has not been assessed, it is obvious that the economic impact of HE on daily activities of living is extremely high, as the costs of diminished work performance and lost wages are substantial.