Neuropathological findings in disabled survivors of a head injury.

We investigated how the occurrence and severity of the main neuropathological types of traumatic brain injury (TBI) influenced the severity of disability after a head injury. Eighty-five victims, each of whom had lived at least a month after a head injury but then died, were studied. Judged by the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), before death 35 were vegetative, 30 were severely and 20 were moderately disabled.

Thirty years of the vegetative state: clinical, ethical and legal problems.

The vegetative state is the rarest form of disability in patients now frequently rescued from life-threatening severe brain damage by resuscitation and intensive care. Many doctors have never seen such cases, yet it provokes great interest among professionals and the public because of the paradox of a person who is awake yet not aware. The commonest cause is head injury and it is more common in countries with a high incidence of severe head injury.

Novel aspects of the neuropathology of the vegetative state after blunt head injury.

A detailed neuropathological study was undertaken of the brains of patients who had been assessed clinically as vegetative after blunt head injury. There were 35 cases, (33 male; median age 38 years) with a survival of 6.5-19 months (median 9): 17 were injured in a road traffic accident, 9 after assault and 6 after a fall; 3 were recorded as having had a lucid interval.