To Study the Clinical and Etiological Profile of Patients with Hepatic Encephalopathy

Abstract

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a term used to describe a reversible syndrome of impaired brain function involvinga complex spectrum of nonspecific neurological and psychiatric manifestations occurring in patients of severeacute or chronic liver insufficiency. Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is one of the most devastating complication ofcirrhosis having high morbidity and mortality. There is very limited data regarding the incidence and risk factorsof hepatic encephalopathy so this study is to find the clinical and etiological profile of hepatic encephalopathy.Methodology: The study was conducted in patients visited in OPD/IPD of medicine department, SGRDIMSR,Amritsar (Punjab) in the time period from 1 April 2021 to 31 July 2022. A total of 150 patients were taken up forthis study. All the diagnosed patients of liver cirrhosis of any etiology (Recently detected or old patients) wereincluded in the study.FindingsIn this study most of patients were males (81%) in the age group of 31 to 60 yrs (65%). Most common etiologyfound to be alcoholic (53%) with presenting symptoms of altered talks(51%).Conclusion: Education of the society about the precipitating factors can lead to early detection of hepaticencephalopathy and thus decrease the morbidity and mortality related to it. So there is need for Screeningprograms and education.