Lactulose improves psychometric testing in cirrhotic patients with subclinical encephalopathy
(1997) Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics — Vol. 11, n° 1, p. 165-170 (1997)
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- BACKGROUND: Therapeutic trials suggest that lactulose is an effective treatment of acute and chronic encephalopathy in cirrhotic patients. AIM AND METHODS: As it is likely that portal-systemic shunting and hepatocellular dysfunction are associated with some degree of neurological dysfunction, 14 patients with cirrhosis and documented portal-systemic shunting, but without detectable encephalopathy, were randomized to treatment with either lactulose 20 g t.d.s., or lactose 20 g t.d.s. as placebo, for a 15-day period. Monitoring included manually administered and computer-based psychometric testing, the results of which were correlated with a battery of biochemical and functional parameters. RESULTS: There was no correlation between biochemical or functional parameters and psychometric testing. There was a close correlation between the time required to complete the number connection test and both the number of errors and the duration of errors at sinusoid testing. Lactulose therapy resulted in a significant improvement, assessed by the number connection test and the race track test. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that lactulose therapy might improve subclinical hepatic encephalopathy in patients with cirrhosis and portal-systemic shunting.
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Horsmans, Y., Solbreux, P. M., Daenens, C., Desager, J.-P., & Geubel, A. (1997). Lactulose improves psychometric testing in cirrhotic patients with subclinical encephalopathy. Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 11(1), 165-170. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2036.1997.118289000.x (Original work published 1997)