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Sanz LR, Laureys S, Gosseries O. Towards modern post-coma care based on neuroscientific evidence. Int J Clin Health Psychol 2023; 23:100370. [PMID: 36817874 PMCID: PMC9932483 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2023.100370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Understanding the mechanisms underlying human consciousness is pivotal to improve the prognostication and treatment of severely brain-injured patients. Consciousness remains an elusive concept and the identification of its neural correlates is an active subject of research, however recent neuroscientific advances have allowed scientists to better characterize disorders of consciousness. These breakthroughs question the historical nomenclature and our current management of post-comatose patients. Method This review examines the contribution of consciousness neurosciences to the current clinical management of severe brain injury. It investigates the major impact of consciousness disorders on healthcare systems, the scientific frameworks employed to identify their neural correlates and how evidence-based data from neuroimaging research have reshaped the landscape of post-coma care in recent years. Results Our increased ability to detect behavioral and neurophysiological signatures of consciousness has led to significant changes in taxonomy and clinical practice. We advocate for a multimodal framework for the management of severely brain-injured patients based on precision medicine and evidence-based decisions, integrating epidemiology, health economics and neuroethics. Conclusions Major progress in brain imaging and clinical assessment have opened the door to a new era of post-coma care based on standardized neuroscientific evidence. We highlight its implications in clinical applications and call for improved collaborations between researchers and clinicians to better translate findings to the bedside.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leandro R.D. Sanz
- Coma Science Group, GIGA Consciousness, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
- Centre du Cerveau, University Hospital of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Steven Laureys
- Coma Science Group, GIGA Consciousness, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
- Centre du Cerveau, University Hospital of Liège, Liège, Belgium
- Joint International Research Unit on Consciousness, CERVO Brain Research Centre, CIUSS, Laval University, Québec, Canada
| | - Olivia Gosseries
- Coma Science Group, GIGA Consciousness, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
- Centre du Cerveau, University Hospital of Liège, Liège, Belgium
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Bodien YG, Barber J, Taylor SR, Boase K, Corrigan JD, Dikmen S, Gardner RC, Kramer JH, Levin H, Machamer J, McAllister T, Nelson LD, Ngwenya LB, Sherer M, Stein MB, Vassar M, Whyte J, Yue JK, Markowitz A, McCrea MA, Manley GT, Temkin N, Giacino JT. Feasibility and Utility of a Flexible Outcome Assessment Battery for Longitudinal Traumatic Brain Injury Research: A TRACK-TBI Study. J Neurotrauma 2023; 40:337-348. [PMID: 36097759 PMCID: PMC9902043 DOI: 10.1089/neu.2022.0141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) are difficult to measure in longitudinal cohort studies, because disparate pre-injury characteristics and injury mechanisms produce variable impairment profiles and recovery trajectories. In preparation for the Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in TBI (TRACK-TBI) study, which followed patients with injuries ranging from uncomplicated mild TBI to coma, we designed a multi-dimensional Flexible outcome Assessment Battery (FAB). The FAB relies on a decision-making algorithm that assigns participants to a Comprehensive (CAB) or Abbreviated Assessment Battery (AAB) and guides test selection across all phases of recovery. To assess feasibility of the FAB, we calculated the proportion of participants followed at 2 weeks (2w) and at 3, 6, and 12 months (3m, 6m, 12m) post-injury who completed the FAB and received valid scores. We evaluated utility of the FAB by examining differences in 6m and 12m Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE) scores between participant subgroups derived from the FAB-enabled versus traditional approach to outcome assessment applied at 2w. Among participants followed at 2w (n = 2094), 3m (n = 1871), 6m (n = 1736), and 12m (n = 1607) post-injury, 95-99% received valid completion scores on the FAB, in full or in part, either in person or by telephone. Level of function assessed by the FAB-enabled approach at 2w was associated with 6m and 12m GOSE scores (proportional odds p < 0.001). These findings suggest that the participant classification methodology afforded by the FAB may enable more effective data collection to improve detection of natural history changes and TBI treatment effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yelena G. Bodien
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jason Barber
- University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Sabrina R. Taylor
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Kim Boase
- University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | | | | | - Raquel C. Gardner
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Joel H. Kramer
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | | | | | - Thomas McAllister
- University of Indiana School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
| | | | | | - Mark Sherer
- Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- TIRR Memorial Hermann, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Murray B. Stein
- University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Mary Vassar
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - John Whyte
- Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - John K. Yue
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Amy Markowitz
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | | | | | - Nancy Temkin
- University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Joseph T. Giacino
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
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Understanding, detecting, and stimulating consciousness recovery in the ICU. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 2022; 165:809-828. [PMID: 36242637 DOI: 10.1007/s00701-022-05378-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 08/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
Coma is a medical and socioeconomic emergency. Although underfunded, research on coma and disorders of consciousness has made impressive progress. Lesion-network-mapping studies have delineated the precise brainstem regions that consistently produce coma when damaged. Functional neuroimaging has revealed how mechanisms like "communication through coherence" and "inhibition by gating" work in synergy to enable cortico-cortical processing and how this information transfer is disrupted in brain injury. On the cellular level, break-down of intracellular communication between the layer 5 pyramidal cell soma and the apical dendritic part impairs dendritic information integration, with up-stream effects on microcircuits in local neuronal populations and on large-scale fronto-parietal networks, which correlates with loss of consciousness. A breakthrough in clinical concepts occurred when fMRI, and later EEG, studies revealed that 15% of clinically unresponsive patients in acute and chronic settings are in fact awake and aware, as shown by their command following abilities revealed by brain activation during motor and locomotion imagery tasks. This condition is now termed "cognitive motor dissociation." Furthermore, epidemiological data on coma were literally non-existent until recently because of difficulties related to case ascertainment with traditional methods, but crowdsourcing of family observations enabled the first estimates of how frequent coma is in the general population (pooled annual incidence of 201 coma cases per 100,000 population in the UK and the USA). Diagnostic guidelines on coma and disorders of consciousness by the American Academy of Neurology and the European Academy of Neurology provide ambitious clinical frameworks to accommodate these achievements. As for therapy, a broad range of medical and non-medical treatment options is now being tested in increasingly larger trials; in particular, amantadine and transcranial direct current stimulation appear promising in this regard. Major international initiatives like the Curing Coma Campaign aim to raise awareness for coma and disorders of consciousness in the public, with the ultimate goal to make more brain-injured patients recover consciousness after a coma. To highlight all these accomplishments, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of recent progress and future challenges related to understanding, detecting, and stimulating consciousness recovery in the ICU.
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Di Gregorio F, La Porta F, Petrone V, Battaglia S, Orlandi S, Ippolito G, Romei V, Piperno R, Lullini G. Accuracy of EEG Biomarkers in the Detection of Clinical Outcome in Disorders of Consciousness after Severe Acquired Brain Injury: Preliminary Results of a Pilot Study Using a Machine Learning Approach. Biomedicines 2022; 10:biomedicines10081897. [PMID: 36009445 PMCID: PMC9405912 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10081897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2022] [Revised: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Accurate outcome detection in neuro-rehabilitative settings is crucial for appropriate long-term rehabilitative decisions in patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC). EEG measures derived from high-density EEG can provide helpful information regarding diagnosis and recovery in DoC patients. However, the accuracy rate of EEG biomarkers to predict the clinical outcome in DoC patients is largely unknown. This study investigated the accuracy of psychophysiological biomarkers based on clinical EEG in predicting clinical outcomes in DoC patients. To this aim, we extracted a set of EEG biomarkers in 33 DoC patients with traumatic and nontraumatic etiologies and estimated their accuracy to discriminate patients’ etiologies and predict clinical outcomes 6 months after the injury. Machine learning reached an accuracy of 83.3% (sensitivity = 92.3%, specificity = 60%) with EEG-based functional connectivity predicting clinical outcome in nontraumatic patients. Furthermore, the combination of functional connectivity and dominant frequency in EEG activity best predicted clinical outcomes in traumatic patients with an accuracy of 80% (sensitivity = 85.7%, specificity = 71.4%). These results highlight the importance of functional connectivity in predicting recovery in DoC patients. Moreover, this study shows the high translational value of EEG biomarkers both in terms of feasibility and accuracy for the assessment of DoC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Di Gregorio
- UO Medicina Riabilitativa e Neuroriabilitazione, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale, 40133 Bologna, Italy
| | - Fabio La Porta
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna
- Correspondence:
| | | | - Simone Battaglia
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Alma Mater Studiorum—Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, 47521 Cesena, Italy
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Torino, 10124 Torino, Italy
| | - Silvia Orlandi
- Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering “Guglielmo Marconi”, University of Bologna, Viale Risorgimento, 2, 40136 Bologna, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Ippolito
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Alma Mater Studiorum—Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, 47521 Cesena, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Romei
- Centro Studi e Ricerche in Neuroscienze Cognitive, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Alma Mater Studiorum—Università di Bologna, Campus di Cesena, 47521 Cesena, Italy
| | | | - Giada Lullini
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna
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Kondziella D, Stevens RD. Classifying Disorders of Consciousness: Past, Present, and Future. Semin Neurol 2022; 42:239-248. [PMID: 35738291 DOI: 10.1055/a-1883-1021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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Treating Traumatic Brain Injuries with Electroceuticals: Implications for the Neuroanatomy of Consciousness. NEUROSCI 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/neurosci2030018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of loss of consciousness, long-term disability, and death in children and young adults (age 1 to 44). Currently, there are no United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pharmacological treatments for post-TBI regeneration and recovery, particularly related to permanent disability and level of consciousness. In some cases, long-term disorders of consciousness (DoC) exist, including the vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (VS/UWS) characterized by the exhibition of reflexive behaviors only or a minimally conscious state (MCS) with few purposeful movements and reflexive behaviors. Electroceuticals, including non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS), vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), and deep brain stimulation (DBS) have proved efficacious in some patients with TBI and DoC. In this review, we examine how electroceuticals have improved our understanding of the neuroanatomy of consciousness. However, the level of improvements in general arousal or basic bodily and visual pursuit that constitute clinically meaningful recovery on the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) remain undefined. Nevertheless, these advancements demonstrate the importance of the vagal nerve, thalamus, reticular activating system, and cortico-striatal-thalamic-cortical loop in the process of consciousness recovery.
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Therapies to Restore Consciousness in Patients with Severe Brain Injuries: A Gap Analysis and Future Directions. Neurocrit Care 2021; 35:68-85. [PMID: 34236624 PMCID: PMC8266715 DOI: 10.1007/s12028-021-01227-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2021] [Accepted: 03/04/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Background/Objective For patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC) and their families, the search for new therapies has been a source of hope and frustration. Almost all clinical trials in patients with DoC have been limited by small sample sizes, lack of placebo groups, and use of heterogeneous outcome measures. As a result, few therapies have strong evidence to support their use; amantadine is the only therapy recommended by current clinical guidelines, specifically for patients with DoC caused by severe traumatic brain injury. To foster and advance development of consciousness-promoting therapies for patients with DoC, the Curing Coma Campaign convened a Coma Science Work Group to perform a gap analysis. Methods We consider five classes of therapies: (1) pharmacologic; (2) electromagnetic; (3) mechanical; (4) sensory; and (5) regenerative. For each class of therapy, we summarize the state of the science, identify gaps in knowledge, and suggest future directions for therapy development. Results Knowledge gaps in all five therapeutic classes can be attributed to the lack of: (1) a unifying conceptual framework for evaluating therapeutic mechanisms of action; (2) large-scale randomized controlled trials; and (3) pharmacodynamic biomarkers that measure subclinical therapeutic effects in early-phase trials. To address these gaps, we propose a precision medicine approach in which clinical trials selectively enroll patients based upon their physiological receptivity to targeted therapies, and therapeutic effects are measured by complementary behavioral, neuroimaging, and electrophysiologic endpoints. Conclusions This personalized approach can be realized through rigorous clinical trial design and international collaboration, both of which will be essential for advancing the development of new therapies and ultimately improving the lives of patients with DoC. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12028-021-01227-y.
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Formisano R, Giustini M, Aloisi M, Contrada M, Schnakers C, Zasler N, Estraneo A. An International survey on diagnostic and prognostic protocols in patients with disorder of consciousness. Brain Inj 2019; 33:974-984. [DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2019.1622785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Marianna Contrada
- IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy
- Behavioral Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome Italy
| | - Caroline Schnakers
- Research Institute, Casa Colina Hospital and Centers of Healthcare, Pomona, CA, USA; Psychiatry Department, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Nathan Zasler
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Concussion Care Centre of Virginia, Ltd, Tree of Life Services, Inc, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Anna Estraneo
- Emergency Neurology Department, Santa Maria della Pietà General Hospital, Nola NA, Italy
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