Memory impairments concomitant with nonalcoholic cirrhosis.

A battery of memory tests was administered to a group of patients with nonalcoholic cirrhosis and to a group of normals. Deficits observed in the former group indicate that there are detectable neuropsychological impairments on measures of higher cognitive functioning in persons who do not otherwise exhibit overt signs or symptoms of hepatic encephalopathy. These findings extend the range of impairments that have been documented to be present as part of the neuropsychiatric syndrome of portal-systemic encephalopathy.