Late recovery of responsiveness after intra-thecal baclofen pump implantation and the role of diffuse pain and severe spasticity: a case report.

Patients with a prolonged disorder of consciousness (DoC) may present with severe spasticity and diffuse pain, which might impair motor output, thus preventing any possible behavioral responsiveness. A 26-year-old man affected by frontoparietal hemorrhage was operated by hematoma evacuation and decompressive craniectomy; coma persisted for 1 month; cranioplasty and ventriculo-peritoneal shunting was performed after 4 months. At admission in rehabilitation, he was diagnosed as vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (VS/UWS).

Improvement rate of patients with severe brain injury during post-acute intensive rehabilitation.

Patients with severe acquired brain injury (SABI) may evolve towards different outcomes. The primary aim was to evaluate the clinical evolution of a large population of patients with SABI admitted to post-acute rehabilitation from 2001 to 2016, diagnosed with severe brain injury (GCS ≤ 8) in the acute phase and a coma duration of at least 24 h. The possible changes between the admission time to a post-acute rehabilitation hospital and the discharge time were measured by means of Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), Level of Cognitive Functioning (LCF), and Disability Rating Scale (DRS).

Quantitative EEG patterns following unilateral stroke: a study in chronic stage.

The aim of this study was to investigate the EEG power spectra obtained during rest and mental processing in chronic stroke patients. Seventeen patients with stabilized unilateral cerebral ischemia, grouped according to the side of lesion, underwent quantitative EEG recordings during rest and attentive/cognitive tasks. EEG spectral values were compared with those of 11 healthy subjects.