Unexpected emergence from the vegetative state: delayed discovery rather than late recovery of consciousness.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The vegetative state, also known as the unresponsive wakefulness syndrome, is one of the worst possible outcomes of acquired brain injury and confronts rehabilitation specialists with various challenges. Emergence to (minimal) consciousness is classically considered unlikely beyond 3-6 months after non-traumatic or 12 months after traumatic etiologies. A growing body of evidence suggests that these timeframes are too narrow, but evidence regarding chances of recovery is still limited.

Objective

To identify the moment of recovery of consciousness in documented cases of late emergence from a vegetative state.

Methods

Four cases of apparent late recovery of consciousness, identified within a prospective cohort study, were studied in-depth by analyzing medical,

SUBMITTER: van Erp WS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6851207 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature