The Wessex Head Injury Matrix (WHIM) main scale: a preliminary report on a scale to assess and monitor patient recovery after severe head injury

The neurological assessment of patients in vegetative and minimally conscious states

Patients with serious central nervous system (CNS) injuries can enter a chronic state in which there is impaired awareness, but the presence of preserved basic vegetative functions. Such cases present formidable challenges to the medical practitioner in terms of clinical assessment and thus management. This paper presents the neurological approach to such patients highlighting the clinical clues that need to be sought to decide whether the patient is in a persistent vegetative or minimally conscious state (i.e., showing any responsiveness to external stimuli), or alternatively suffering from a locked-in syndrome. This neurological clinical formulation is then assimilated with other tests and assessments from a range of medical specialities, and by so doing helps confirm the clinical impression. This multidisciplinary approach is vital in the assessment of such patients and ideally should also include neurophysiological and functional imaging paradigms.

Vegetative and minimally conscious states: How can occupational therapists help?

There is little documentation about the role of occupational therapy specifically for the vegetative and minimally conscious patient. This paper sets out to clarify the role using one model of occupational therapy, namely that of Reed and Sanderson (1992), and proposes occupational therapy assessment and treatment for this patient group. It explores how patients are affected in the performance components of motor, sensory, cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal skills, which are explored through assessment. The paper then explains how these skills impact upon occupational performance (functional ability) and suggests methods occupational therapists will use in treatment planning. Throughout the manuscript, a person-centred approach, which is vital to occupational therapy, is demonstrated.

Considerations for the use of assistive technology in patients with impaired states of consciousness

While there is limited literature addressing the application of assistive technology in patients in persistent vegetative state (PVS) and minimally conscious state (MCS), it is believed that it can assist with the assessment, diagnosis and treatment as well as management of these patients. The use of technology to assist in PVS and MCS is mostly limited to the application of simple binary switch devices to determine whether a motor response is consistent or otherwise. However, the application of such technology is often undermined due to a lack of established protocols for use by the multidisciplinary team (MDT), as well as a lack of available technical resources. Therefore the ongoing development of assessment instruments as well as effective outcome measures used by an MDT is imperative. This article aims to discuss some key aspects to consider in the use of assistive technology when assessing and treating people in impaired conscious states. Possible considerations and suggestions will be discussed through this paper and a case study will be used to demonstrate some of these interventions.

Diagnostic and prognostic guidelines for the vegwive and minimally conscious states

Many individuals who sustain severe brain injury experience prolonged or permanent disorders of consciousness. While these disorders may appear homogeneous, important distinctions exist in prognosis and clinical management. Studies suggest, however, that the incidence of diagnostic inaccuracy is high in both acute care and rehabilitation settings. In this paper, we review consensus-based diagnostic and prognostic criteria for the vegetative and minimally conscious states. We also discuss recent developments and future directions for research in this area.

The Sensory Modality Assessment and Rehabilitation Technique (SMART): a valid and reliable assessment for vegetative state and minimally conscious state patients

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

To establish the reliability and validity of the Sensory Modality Assessment and Rehabilitation Technique (SMART) as a tool for discriminating awareness in patients with profound brain damage.

RESEARCH DESIGN

A comparative prospective study was conducted.

METHOD AND PROCEDURES

Sixty subjects diagnosed in vegetative state (VS) on admission were assessed at 2-monthly intervals. Rancho level ratings derived from referring physicians, SMART and Western Neuro Sensory Stimulation Profile (WNSSP) scores were compared.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

The intra-observer intra class correlation (ICC) was 0.97 and inter-observer ICC was 0.96, implying very little within and between observer scoring variations. A modest, although significant correlation was established between SMART and either physician or WNSSP scores. However, the correlation between the WNSSP and SMART was higher (r = 0.70) than that between WNSSP and physicians scores (r = 0.451) or between SMART and physicians (r= 0.474).

CONCLUSION

SMART is a valid and reliable assessment for discriminating awareness in VS and Minimally Conscious State (MCS).

The minimally conscious state: defining the borders of consciousness

There is no agreement as to where the limits of consciousness lie, or even if these putative borders exist. Problems inherent to the study of consciousness continue to confound efforts to establish a universally accepted theory of consciousness. Consequently, clinical definitions of consciousness and unconsciousness are unavoidably arbitrary. Recently, a condition of severely altered consciousness has been described, which characterizes the borderzone between the vegetative state and so-called "normal" consciousness. This condition, referred to as the minimally conscious state (MCS), is distinguished from the vegetative state by the presence of minimal but clearly discernible behavioral evidence of self or environmental awareness. This chapter reviews the diagnostic criteria, pathophysiology, prognostic relevance, neurobehavioral assessment procedures and treatment implications associated with MCS.

Behavioral evaluation of consciousness in severe brain damage

This paper reviews the current state of bedside behavioral assessment in brain-damaged patients with impaired consciousness (coma, vegetative state, minimally conscious state). As misdiagnosis in this field is unfortunately very frequent, we first discuss a number of fundamental principles of clinical evaluation that should guide the assessment of consciousness in brain-damaged patients in order to avoid confusion between vegetative state and minimally conscious state. The role of standardized behavioral assessment tools is particularly stressed. The second part of this paper reviews existing behavioral assessment techniques of consciousness, showing that there are actually a large number of these scales. After a discussion of the most widely used scale, the Glasgow Coma Scale, we present several new promising tools that show higher sensitivity and reliability for detecting subtle signs of recovery of consciousness in the post-acute setting.

[How can we define the modalities and clinical levels of coma to wakefulness?]

OBJECTIVE

The starting point of the French conference of consensus concerning arousal after coma was to answer the following question: "How can we define the ways of going from coma to arousal and their clinical levels?

MATERIALS AND METHOD

A team of readers have picked up in the literature one hundred and fifty papers, out of which fifty six have been analysed.

RESULTS

From this analysis, three points emerged: The concepts of coma and arousal; The conditions of evolution from coma to arousal; Various groups of patients depending on their expressing arousal. One could not find any consensual model concerning the different ways of going from coma to arousal. The variability of the technics and the changing validity of all scores did not allow the conditions of arousal to reach a satisfactory level of proof. The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is the recognised standard for severe wakefulness' impairment, but it is not sensitive enough while patients' arousing. The Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) takes into account the patients' situations far later and does not include situations such as Minimally Conscious States (MCS). That's why we face multiple scores, either ordinal, or categorial, all tending to evaluate the slow levels of arousal.

CONCLUSION

Clinical findings concerning arousal are to be completed by non-clinical data. This would be greatly helpful to define appropriate management concerning individualized groups of patients. At this stage, another challenge for clinicians is to make the difference between emerging wakefulness and growing conscious activity.