One-Year Demographical and Clinical Indices of Patients with Chronic Disorders of Consciousness.

This work aims to evaluate the prognostic value of the demographical and clinical data on long-term outcomes (up to 12 months) in patients with severe acquired brain injury with vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (VS/UWS/UWS) or a minimally conscious state (MCS). Patients ( = 211) with VS/UWS/UWS ( = 123) and MCS ( = 88) were admitted to the Federal Research and Clinical Center of Intensive Care Medicine and Rehabilitology after anoxic brain injury ( = 53), vascular lesions ( = 59), traumatic brain injury ( = 93), and other causes ( = 6). At the beginning of the 12-month study, younger age and a higher score by the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) predicted a survival.

Effect of Retinohypothalamic Tract Dysfunction on Melatonin Level in Patients with Chronic Disorders of Consciousness.

Objective: The aim of this study is to compare the secretion level of nocturnal melatonin and the characteristics of the peripheral part of the visual analyzer in patients with chronic disorders of consciousness (DOC).

Materials And Methods: We studied the level of melatonin in 22 patients with chronic DOC and in 11 healthy volunteers. The fundus condition was assessed using the ophthalmoscopic method.