Validation of the simplified Animal Naming Test as primary screening tool for the diagnosis of covert hepatic encephalopathy

Diagnosis of covert hepatic encephalopathy (CHE) is time consuming in clinical practice. Recently, a new diagnostic tool - the simplified Animal Naming Test (S-ANT1) - was presented with promising results in an Italian cohort. The aim of the present study was to validate S-ANT1 in a cohort of cirrhotic patients from a German tertiary referral centre. 143 cirrhotic patients and 37 healthy controls were enrolled. Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) grade 1 (HE1) was clinically diagnosed according to the West-Haven Criteria. Critical flicker frequency and Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score were used to detect minimal HE (MHE). All participants were additionally examined by S-ANT1. 58 (40.6%) patients presented with CHE (40 MHE, 18 HE1). S-ANT1 was lowest in patients with HE1, followed by patients with MHE, patients without CHE, and healthy controls, respectively (each p