Asynchronous and asymmetric burst-suppression in a patient with a corpus callosum lesion.

Introduction: Burst suppression is seen in the electroencephalograms of patients receiving high doses of pentobarbital. In such circumstances, burst suppression is characterized by bilaterally synchronous and symmetric bursts of electrical activity followed by intervals of attenuation.

Methods: We report on a case of asymmetric and asynchronous pentobarbital-induced burst suppression that occurred after a corpus callosum lesion sustained during trauma.

Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first such reported human case of asymmetric and asynchronous pentobarbital-induced burst suppression. These findings suggest that the corpus callosum may be involved in the synchronization of the burst-suppression pattern.