Unresponsive wakefulness syndrome: a new name for the vegetative state or apallic syndrome.

Background: Some patients awaken from coma (that is, open the eyes) but remain unresponsive (that is, only showing reflex movements without response to command). This syndrome has been coined vegetative state. We here present a new name for this challenging neurological condition: unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (abbreviated UWS).

Differential time and related appearance of signs, indicating improvement in the state of consciousness in vegetative state traumatic brain injury (VS-TBI) patients after initiation of dopamine treatment.

Objective: The goal of the study was to look for the response of treatment with increasing doses of dopaminergic medication on the recovery of vegetative state patients post-TBI.

Design: A prospective study of eight patients aged 25-50 years in vegetative state (VS) of mean duration of 104 days following traumatic brain injury (TBI) was performed by investigating changes of their state of consciousness while they were treated with levodopa/carbidopa.

Results: Initial improvement was observed in all patients within a mean of 13 days after onset of treatment.

Loewenstein communication scale for the minimally responsive patient.

Primary Objective: Any sign of communicative ability in patients in vegetative state can provide information about regain of consciousness and conservation of cognitive abilities. The aim of this study was to test the reliability and validity of an instrument designed to measure the degree of communication in minimally responsive patients.

Materials: The Loewenstein Communication Scale (LCS) measures five hierarchical functions - mobility, respiration, visual responsiveness, auditory comprehension and linguistic skills (verbal or alternative) - which are divided into five parameters and rated in developmental order on a 5-point scale by level of difficulty.

Phasic activities of rapid eye movement sleep in vegetative state patients.

Study Objectives: To assess the phasic components of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in patients in vegetative state and to evaluate the possible relationship of these activities to patient outcome.

Setting: Sleep disorders unit at a major rehabilitation hospital.

Design: Comparative control study.

Early immunological defects in comatose patients after acute brain injury.

Object: The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the phagocytic, humoral, and cellular arms of the immune system in comatose patients shortly after severe brain injury and to compare the findings with those reported earlier in patients in a persistent vegetative state. The study was conducted in intensive care units and immunology laboratories of university-affiliated hospitals in central Israel.

Methods: The study group consisted of 14 men aged 16 to 65 years who were comatose as a result of acute brain injury due to mechanical trauma.