Chronic hepatic encephalopathy. A psychometrical study

Psychometric tests were performed in 41 patients with cirrhosis of the liver and suspected hepatic encephalopathy and compared with EEG-examinations and clinical investigations. Marked intellectual impairment was noted frequently even when the clinical investigation was normal. This difference was mainly due to the preserved verbal ability of the patient. The etiology of the cirrhosis did not influence the test results. Male cirrhotic patients with and without alcoholism showed significantly more intellectual impairment then alcoholics without cirrhosis. Patients Patients with constructed porto-systemic shunts showed only slightly reduced intellectual ability compared to those without shunts.