Nutritional status in non-alcoholic subclinical porto-systemic encephalopathy
AIM: To understand the role of nutritional status in cirrhotic patients without clinical porto-systemic encephalopathy (PSE). METHODS: Fifty-one non-alcoholic patients with cirrhosis without PSE were studied prospectively and compared with 20 healthy volunteers. The nutritional evaluation included s...
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Published in | World journal of gastroenterology : WJG Vol. 4; no. 5; pp. 380 - 384 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc
15.10.1998
|
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | AIM: To understand the role of nutritional status in cirrhotic patients without clinical porto-systemic encephalopathy (PSE).
METHODS: Fifty-one non-alcoholic patients with cirrhosis without PSE were studied prospectively and compared with 20 healthy volunteers. The nutritional evaluation included serum prealbumin, albumin, transferrin, body mass index ( BMI ), mid-arm muscle circumference (MAMC), and grip power. The occurrence of subclinical PSE ( SPSE ) was defined when N20-N65 inter-peak latencies of median nerve-stimulated somatosensory evoked potentials were > 2.5 standard deviations of control means. Blood chemistries were tested within 12 h of somatosensory evoked potentials test and nutritional evaluation.
RESULTS: Twenty-five, 17 and 9 cirrhotic patients were graded as Child-Pugh class A, B, and C, respectively. Twenty-four (47.1%) patients developed SPSE. Cirrhotic patients with SPSE had lower serum albumin (2.8 mg/L ± 5 mg/L
vs
31 mg/L ± 7 mg/L,
P
< 0.001) levels than those without SPSE. Prealbumin (106mg/L ± 57mg/L
vs
125 mg/L ± 58 mg/L), transferrin (1.64 g/L ± 0.46 g/L
vs
1.78 g/L ± 0.58 g/L), BMI (23.7 kg/m
2
± 2.7 kg/m
2
vs
25.3 kg/m
2
± 3.6 kg/m
2
), MAMC (22.2 cm ± 2.6 cm
vs
22.7 cm ±3.5 cm), and grip power (26.3 kg ± 6.4 kg
vs
26.9 kg ± 6.8 kg) were not different between cirrhotic patients with and without SPSE. N20-N65 inter-peak latencies were correlated with serum albumin levels (
P
= 0.01) but not with prealbumin, transferrin, BMI, MAMC, or grip power. Serum albumin, prealbumin and transferrin levels were different among cirrhotic patients with Child-Pugh classes A, B, and C (
P
< 0.05). BMI, MAMC, and grip power were not different among Child-Pugh classes A, B and C.
CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that serum albumin level is a simple test in the evaluation of nutritional status in patients with cirrhosis. |
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Bibliography: | Telephone: +886-2-27082121 ext 3121, Fax. +886-2-27074949 Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work. Correspondence to: Sien-Sing Yang, MD, Division of Gastroenterology, Cathay General Hospital, 280 Jen-Ai Rd., Sec.4, Taipei 106, Taiwan, China. yangss@tpts1.seed.net.tw |
ISSN: | 1007-9327 2219-2840 |
DOI: | 10.3748/wjg.v4.i5.380 |