Non invasive blood flow measurement in cerebellum detects minimal hepatic encephalopathy earlier than psychometric tests

Table 3 Psychometric tests and attention and coordination tasks in the different groups of cirrhotic patients and in controls (mean ± SD)

Test	Sub-test	Controls(n = 14)	Patients without MHE(n = 24)P vs Control	Patients with MHE(n = 16)P vs control	Patients with MHEP vs without MHE	P values
CFF		43.2 ± 0.7	40.5 ± 0.7	36 ± 1	P = 0.001	< 0.001
				P < 0.001
PHES Global score		-0.13 ± 0.25	-1.23 ± 0.30	-6.31 ± 0.72
				P < 0.001	P < 0.001	< 0.001
	Symbol digit test	-0.07 ± 0.12	-0.11 ± 0.08	-0.87 ± 0.12
				P < 0.001	P < 0.001	< 0.001
	NCT-A	-0.07 ± 0.15	-0.04 ± 0.07	-1.19 ± 0.28
				P < 0.001	P < 0.001	< 0.001
	NCT-B	-0.07 ± 0.18	-0.27 ± 0.14	-2.07 ± 0.30
				P < 0.001	P < 0.001	< 0.001
	Serial dotting test	0.00 ± 0.00	-0.57 ± 0.17	-1.19 ± 0.29	NS
				P = 0.001		0.002
	Line tracing test	-0.07 ± 0.07	-0.15 ± 0.07	-1.25 ± 0.33	P < 0.001
				P < 0.001		< 0.001
Stroop	Congruent task	102 ± 5	90 ± 2	76 ± 4
			P = 0.03	P < 0.0001	P = 0.009	< 0.0001
	Neutral Task	75 ± 3	67 ± 2	54 ± 3
				P < 0.0001	P = 0.003	< 0.0001
	Incongruent Task	42 ± 2	36 ± 2	28 ± 2	P = 0.030	0.001
				P = 0.001
Bimanual coordination		1.73 ± 0.05	2.16 ± 0.05	2.83 ± 0.15
			P = 0.05	P < 0.0001	P < 0.0001	< 0.0001
Visuo-motor coordination		2.15 ± 0.08	2.61 ± 0.08	3.89 ± 0.28		< 0.0001
				P < 0.0001	P < 0.0001

Statistical analysis: One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by post-hoc Bonferroni’s multiple comparisons test , except for Bimanual and Visuo-motor coordination tests, in which univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed, with age included as covariate, followed by post-hoc Bonferroni. Adjusted P values are shown. Stroop test: Congruent task: number of words read in 45 s; Neutral task: Number of colours read in 45 s; Incongruent task: Number of items completed in 45 s. Bimanual and Visuo-motor coordination tests: Score in minutes. CFF: Critical Flicker Frequency; PHES: Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score; NCT-A, NCT-B: Number Connection Test A and B: respectively; NS: Not significant.