To the Editor, Knowledge of varied and sometimes unusual suicide methods is very important for the physicians in the emergency department when approaching a patient with suicidal attempt or decreased level of consciousness. The patient clinical manifestation depends on the method which is used to commit suicide. So, it is a priority for the physicians to be familiar with different medical and s...

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES), a term coined in 1996, describes a clinico-radiologic entity characterised by headache, seizures, decreased vision, impaired consciousness and white matter oedema in bilateral occipito-parietal regions [1]. Hypertensive encephalopathy, eclampsia, immunosuppressive/cytotoxic drugs, organ transplantation, renal disease, autoimmune diseases and ...

An emergent coronary angiogram was performed and it showed an occluded distal left circumflex artery (LCX) (Figure 1A). Sodium heparin (70 UI/kg), acetylsalicylic acid 250 mg, 75 mg clopidogrel and an intracoronary bolus of abciximab (17,5 mg) were administered before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Two minutes after, he acutely developed a generalized tonic-clonic seizure accompanied...

I question whether it is completely accurate to think of the philosophical meaning of consciousness as being switched-on or switched-off. It may be that, once consciousness is switched-on, it is then found in degrees in animals we deem conscious. In which case, consciousness is more like a switched-on rheostat, rather than a simple on–off switch. Christian de Quincey (2006) gives a list of what...

Scientists studying consciousness are attempting to identify correlations between measurements of consciousness and the physical world. Consciousness can only be measured through first-person reports, which raises problems about the accuracy of first-person reports, the possibility of non-reportable consciousness and the causal closure of the physical world. Many of these issues could be resolv...

Editor’s key points † Three patients with an apparently decreased response to remifentanil. † Two of these patients subsequently tested with a step-up infusion of remifentanil. † They had a normal analgesic response but limited respiratory and consciousness responses. † The cause of this impaired effect is not clear. Background. Over a 5 yr period, we have encountered three patients in whom rem...

Background: Premature infants are among high-risk groups in community who need to be hospitalized at intensive care units for survival and receiving basic or special care. Hospitalization at neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) unsettles the family and leads to the separation of parents from their infants. This study aimed to determine the effects of maternal attachment behaviors on the behavi...