[Abstract] Objective To identify the clinical characteristics of minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) in patients with liver cirrhosis, and investigate the relationship between related clinical indicators and the risk of MHE. Methods?A total of 87 patients with liver cirrhosis were enrolled and tested by Number Connection Test-A. Patients whose test results exceed the upper limit of normal values were classified as MHE group, while others werenon-MHE group. The medical history, blood routine examination, liver function, blood ammonia, coagulation function and related clinical indicators were collected, and Child-Pugh score was calculated. The risk factors of MHE were analyzed by Logistic regression. Results?Among 87 patients with liver cirrhosis, 49 (56.3%)with abnormal NCT-A were diagnosed with MHE. The blood ammonia level of MHE patients was significantly higher than that of non-MHE patients (P<0.05), however, there was no significant correlation between blood ammonia level and abnormal degree of NCT-A in MHE patients (P> 0.05). In MHE group, the proportion of patientswith decompensated cirrhosis, previous history of overt hepatic encephalopathy(OHE), and Child-Pugh class B or C were significantly higher than that in non-MHE group (P<0.05). Compared with non-MHE group, MHE patients had significantly higher levels of bilirubin and transaminase and lower levels of serum albumin, cholinesterase, prothrombin activity (P> 0.05). Univariate Logistic regression analysis showed that younger age, decompensated cirrhosis, high Child-Pugh grade, high blood ammonia level, low cholinesterase level, high total bilirubin level and decreased prothrombin activity were all risk factors for MHE. While in multivariate Logistic regression analysis, high total bilirubin was identified as independent predictors of MHE. Conclusions?A higher incidence of MHE was observed in patients with liver cirrhosis, especially in patients with decompensated cirrhosisand poor liver function. The high level of total bilirubin is an independent risk factor for MHE. |