[Unresponsive wakefulness syndrome: clinical predictors of late recovery.].

Patients affected by the outcomes of serious traumatic and/or non-traumatic brain injury may show progressive recovery characterized by a broad spectrum of clinical conditions, which are often not completely different, but of differing seriousness. The unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS) and minimally conscious state (MCS) are syndromes that may characterize progression from the coma state and may be temporary clinical conditions, or in some cases, the final outcome of acute brain injury. The eventual recovery of consciousness is a dynamic process, in constant progress following the acute event.