Abstract Background Disorder of consciousness diagnosis, especially when is classified as persistent vegetative state (without misestimating the other diagnosis classifications), in intensive care an important to evaluate and treat. Persistent a challenge daily clinical practice because made mainly based upon history patient behavior observation. There are some specific criteria for this could ...

Initial conceptualisation about the nature of vegetative state (VS) assumed at least temporary loss of the entire cortical functioning. Since a broad range of stimulus-related cortical activations was demonstrated in VS patients, this simplified idea is not tenable any longer, but no alternative concept emerges instead. Two recent hypotheses, empirically testable and well grounded, could fill t...

OBJECTIVE Our purpose was to provide a comprehensive understanding of how women informal caregivers of patients in vegetative state (VS) or minimally conscious state (MCS) describe, represent, and experience changes that occurred in their life after the acute event of their family member. METHODS A qualitative study was conducted and fifteen women informal caregivers, mothers, or spouses of p...

OBJECTIVE To describes socio-demographic and clinical features of adults and children in vegetative state (VS) and minimally conscious state (MCS). DESIGN Observational cross-sectional study. METHODS Demographic, aetiological and clinical data were collected, together with patients' management procedures. Mann-Whitney U-test was used for continuous variables and chi-squared test for categor...

Awake but not aware: This puzzling dissociation of the two central elements of consciousness defines the vegetative state. Traditionally, this condition has been believed to imply a brain with preserved hypothalamic and brainstem autonomic functions but with no capacity for cortical cognitive processes. As is discussed in this review, over a 20-year span neuroimaging techniques have clearly dem...