%0 Journal Article %A Ventura-Cots, Meritxell %A Carmona, Isabel %A Moreno, Carolina %A Ampuero, Javier %A Simón-Talero, Macarena %A Sanpedro, Francesc %A Les, Iñigo %A Romero-Gómez, Manuel %A Genescà, Joan %T Duration of the acute hepatic encephalopathy episode determines survival in cirrhotic patients. %D 2017 %@ 1756-283X %U https://hdl.handle.net/10668/26565 %X Episodes of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) have been related to low survival rate. However, the relation between its clinical evolution and mortality has not been assessed. A retrospective analysis of 245 cirrhotic patients admitted for an acute episode of HE (⩾grade 2) or who developed an HE episode after an upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) event was performed to assess the relation between time in HE and transplant-free survival. Median (IQR25-75) time in HE was 48 h (24-96 h) in the whole cohort. Patients who presented a longer time in HE (>48 h; n = 89) exhibited a lower transplant-free survival at 28 days (67.2% versus 88.9%, p 48 h; n = 89) exhibited a lower transplant-free survival at 28 days (67.2% versus 88.9%, p 48 h, when comparing patients according to baseline HE grade (2 versus ⩾3) or model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) function (⩽15 versus >15). Time in HE was also an independent risk factor for mortality at each time point, hazard ratio (HR) (95 CI%) 28 days 2.59 (1.39-4.84); 90 days 1.98 (1.28-3.1) and 365 days 1.5 (1.08-2.19). The duration of the acute HE episode determines survival in cirrhotic patients independently of liver function and baseline HE grade. %K hepatic encephalopathy %K time in hepatic encephalopathy %K transplant-free survival %~