Saccadic latency in hepatic encephalopathy: a pilot study.

ABSTRACT: Hepatic encephalopathy is a common complication of cirrhosis. The degree of neuro-psychiatric impairment is highly variable and its clinical staging subjective. We investigated whether eye movement response times-saccadic latencies-could serve as an indicator of encephalopathy. We studied the association between saccadic latency, liver function and paper- and pencil tests in 70 patients with cirrhosis and 31 patients after liver transplantation. The tests included the porto-systemic encephalopathy (PSE-) test, critical flicker frequency, MELD score and ammonia concentration. A normal range for saccades was established in 31 control subjects. Clinical and biochemical parameters of liver, blood, and kidney function were also determined. Median saccadic latencies were significantly longer in

SUBMITTER: Krismer F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2972426 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature