Background Minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) is the presence of neuropsychological abnormalities detectable by psychometric tests. Psychometric Hepatic Encephalopathy Score (PHES) is a gold standard test for the early diagnosis of MHE in cirrhotic patients. The aim of this study was to standardize the PHES in a healthy Cameroonian population and to evaluate the prevalence of MHE among cirrhotic patients. Methods This was a prospective, multicentric study from 1 December 2018 to 31 July 2019 in two groups: healthy volunteers and cirrhotic patients without clinical signs of hepatic encephalopathy. The results of the number connection test-A, number connection test-B, serial dotting test, line tracing test were expressed in seconds and those of the digit symbol test in points. Results A total of 102 healthy volunteers (54 men, 48 women) and 50 cirrhotic patients (29 men, 31 women) were included. The mean age was 38.1 ± 12.55 years in healthy volunteers and 49.3 ± 15.6 years in cirrhotic patients. The mean years of education level was 11.63 ± 4.20 years in healthy volunteers and 9.62 ± 3.9 years in cirrhotic patients. The PHES of the healthy volunteer group was − 0.08 ± 1.28 and the cut-off between normal and pathological values was set at − 3 points. PHES of the cirrhotic patients was − 7.66 ± 5.62 points and significantly lower than that of volunteers (p < 0.001). Prevalence of MHE was 74% among cirrhotic patients. Age and education level were associated with MHE. Conclusion PHES cut-off value in Cameroonians is − 3, with MHE prevalence of 74% among cirrhotic patients.

Background: There has been a revolution in the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection since the introduction of new direct-acting antivirals agents (DAAs) in 2014. About 95% of the patients have a sustained virological response (SVR) after 12 weeks with DAAs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the SVR after 12 weeks of treatment with the combination of sofosbuvir (SOF)/ledipasvir (LDV) +/-ribavirin (RBV) among a cohort of Cameroonian HCV carriers.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study in HCV treatment centers in Cameroon health facilities in Yaounde and Douala. It focused on patients with chronic HCV of genotypes 1 and 4 treated with the SOF/ LDV +/-RBV combination for 12 weeks. The virological response after 4 and 12 weeks of treatment was determined. SVR indicating recovery was determined 12 weeks after the end of treatment (SVR12). Results:A total of 111 patients with chronic HCV were included. There was female predominance with a proportion of 58.6%. The average age of the patients was 58.8 ± 8.2 years. Genotype 1 was the most frequent with 68.5% of the cases. The SVR was 93.7% (95% CI (87.4% -97.4%)) regardless of protocol and genotype. HCV infection without cirrhosis was associated with good SVR (aOR = 0.1, 95 CI (0.1 -0.9), P = 0.02). The most common clinical adverse reaction was asthenia with 12.5% (n = 10). Conclusions:The SVR12 in Cameroonian patient infected with HCV genotypes 1 and 4 treated with the combination SOF/LDV +/-RBV was 93.7%. Cirrhosis is a factor of poor response.

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