Some US veterans diagnosed with dementia may have undiagnosed advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis that could explain their cognitive impairment.
, implicating HE as a contributor to cognitive impairment, found the study by Jasmohan S. Bajaj, MD, of Virginia Commonwealth University and Richmond VA Medical Center, Virginia, and colleagues.. "The spouse of one man said, 'My husband is a different person now.' It's not that clinicians don't know how to treat HE; the problem was that they did not suspect it."
The FIB-4 score for each patient was calculated using the most recent alanine aminotransferase or aspartate aminotransferase levels or values and platelet values that were closest to the index date during the two years after the index dementia date. In contrast, a FIB-4 score > 3.25 was inversely associated with the White race , diabetes , hyperlipidemia ,In a follow-up validation study among 89 veterans diagnosed with dementia at a single center, the researchers found similar results: 4.4%-11.2% of participants had high FIB-4 scores, suggestive of HE.