Hepatic encephalopathy a fluid sample with a needle) may be required to identify spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP). The severity of hepatic encephalopathy is graded with the West Haven Criteria; this is based on the level of impairment of autonomy, changes in consciousness, intellectual function, behavior, and the dependence on therapy. A classification of hepatic encephalopathy was introduced at the World Congress of Gastroenterology 1998 in Vienna. According to this classification, hepatic encephalopathy is subdivided in type A, B and C depending on the underlying cause. The term "minimal encephalopathy" (MHE) is defined as encephalopathy that does not lead to clinically overt cognitive
Adjective phrase Adjective phrase An adjective phrase (or adjectival phrase) is a phrase the head word of which is an adjective, e.g. "fond of steak", "very happy", "quite upset about it", etc. The adjective can initiate the phrase (e.g. "fond of steak"), conclude the phrase (e.g. "very happy"), or appear in a medial position (e.g. "quite upset about it"). The dependents of the head adjective—i.e. the other words and phrases inside the adjective phrase—are typically adverb or prepositional phrases, but they can also be clauses (e.g. "louder than you are"). Adjectives and adjective phrases function in two basic ways, attributively or predicatively.