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Cognitive Function of Alcoholic Compensated Liver Cirrhosis

Completed
Conditions
Alcoholic Liver Disease
Interventions
Other: Cognitive function test
Registration Number
NCT04557774
Lead Sponsor
Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital
Brief Summary

Differences in cognitive function between patients with viral and alcoholic compensated liver cirrhosis

Detailed Description

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is one of the important complications of liver cirrhosis (LC). HE exhibits alterations in cognitive, psychomotor-intellectual, emotional, behavioral, or fine-motor functions. Approximately 22-74 % of patients with non-fulminant HE have MHE with a frequency proportional to the patient age and the severity of the liver disease. Patients with MHE exhibit disability in most functional behaviors such as social connection, alertness, emotional behavior, sleep, work, and leisure.

Alcohol consumption itself has a toxic effect on the brain. It has been documented that there is a neuronal loss in the cerebral cortex, hypothalamus, hippocampus, septal region, and cerebellum of an alcoholic brain.

The major causes of LC are hepatitis B/C viral infection and chronic alcohol consumption. The most widely accepted theory of HE pathogenesis is that toxic substances derived from the gut affect cerebral function after liver dysfunction or portosystemic shunting. This proposed pathogenetic mechanism could apply to viral compensated LC. However, it is difficult to explain the development of MHE in patients with alcoholic LC in this manner.

Therefore, patients with alcoholic LC may have different cognitive dysfunction as compared to patients with viral LC.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
110
Inclusion Criteria
  • Those who agreed to participate in this study and signed a written consent
  • Those who have no evidence of neurological impairment
Exclusion Criteria
  • Those who have decompensated liver cirrhosis
  • Those who have a high MELD score (≥20)
  • Those who have OHE during admission
  • Those who have parients' refusal

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Liver cirrhosis groupCognitive function testAll included patients were asymptomatic at the baseline with no evidence of neurological impairment. Patients with a history of moderate alcohol drinking plus hepatitis B/C virus infection, medication for sedation, MELD (Model for End-stage Liver Disease) score of more than 20, OHE, seizure, head trauma, stroke, dementia, Parkinson's disease, or any kind of focal neurologic deficits were excluded. Any patients who were suspected of alcohol induced direct neurologic damages such as Wernicke's encephalopathy, alcohol induced spinal cord disease, or alcohol induced peripheral nerve disease were excluded. After evaluating the data including the laboratory findings, image findings, endoscopic findings, and medical records of all these patients, as well as liver biopsy findings for some patients, we sub-classified these 88 patients into two groups: alcoholic LC and viral LC. Finally, 80 patients (viral: 37; alcohol: 43) with compensated LC were prospectively considered in this study.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
BMI10 years

Compare the body mass index

Liver function10 years

Compare the liver enzyme level Serum biochemical parameters included total bilirubin(mg/dL), alanine aminotransferase(ALT(IU/L)), haptoglobin(mg/dL), aspartate aminotransferase (AST (IU/L)), gamma glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT(IU/L)), alkaline phosphatase (ALP(IU/L)), albumin(g/dL), blood urea nitrogen(mg/dL), creatinine(mg/dL), α-fetoprotein (AFP(ng/mL)), prothrombin time, blood glucose(mg/dL), triglycerides(mg/dL), and total cholesterol(mg/dL).

Cognitive function (Neuropsychological test)10 years

Assessment to measure cognitive function using neuropsychological test

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Department of Internal Medicine, Hallym University Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital

🇰🇷

Chuncheon, Gangwondo, Korea, Republic of

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