Covert hepatic encephalopathy: agreement and predictive validity of different indices.

Aim: To investigate the agreement and prognostic value of different measures of covert hepatic encephalopathy (CHE).

Methods: One-hundred-and-thirty-two cirrhotic outpatients underwent electroencephalography (EEG), paper-and-pencil psychometry (PHES) and critical flicker frequency, scored on the original/modified (CFFo/CFFm) thresholds. Eighty-four patients underwent Doppler-ultrasound to diagnose/exclude portal-systemic shunt.