Actigraphy: A new diagnostic tool for hepatic encephalopathy.

Aim: To assess the actigraphy, an ambulatory and continuous monitoring of wrist motor activity fitted to study sleep/wake patterns in hepatic encephalopathy (HE).

Methods: Twenty-five cirrhotic patients (17 M, 8 F, mean age 56+/-11 years, 24/25 alcoholic, Child-Pugh A , B, C: 2, 6, 17) were included. The patients were classified into 3 groups: stage 0 group (n = 12), stage 1-2 group (n = 6), and stage 3-4 group (n = 7) of encephalopathy.