Persistent Vegetative State

Persistent Vegetative State: Introduction

Persistent Vegetative State: A persistent vegetative state, which sometimes follows a coma, refers to a condition in which individuals have lost cognitive neurological function and ... more about Persistent Vegetative State.

Persistent Vegetative State: Physically alive with basic mental function but without high mental capacity. More detailed information about the symptoms, causes, and treatments of Persistent Vegetative State is available below.

Symptoms of Persistent Vegetative State

• Lost cognitive function
• Lack of awareness of the environment
• Preserved non-cognitive function
  • Preserved sleep-wake cycle
  • Preserved respiration (breathing)
• more symptoms...»

See full list of 7 symptoms of Persistent Vegetative State

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Persistent Vegetative State:

• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Related Home Testing:
  • ADHD -- Home Tests
  • Drug Screening Kits
• more tests...»

Persistent Vegetative State: Complications

Review possible medical complications related to Persistent Vegetative State:

• Pneumonia - the most common cause of death for PVS
• more complications...»

Medical Textbooks Online about Persistent Vegetative State

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Wrongly Diagnosed with Persistent Vegetative State?

• Misdiagnosis of Persistent Vegetative State
• Failure to diagnose Persistent Vegetative State
• Hidden causes of Persistent Vegetative State (possibly wrongly diagnosed)
• Undiagnosed: Persistent Vegetative State

Persistent Vegetative State: Self Assessment Tools

• Stroke -- Self Assessment Tools
• more tools...»

Persistent Vegetative State: Marketplace Products, Discounts & Offers

Products, offers and promotion categories available for Persistent Vegetative State:

• Stroke
• Brain
• more product offers...»

Persistent Vegetative State: Undiagnosed Conditions

Commonly undiagnosed diseases in related medical categories:

• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Undiagnosed:
  • Adult ADHD -- Undiagnosed - ADHD can be undiagnosed in adults.
  • ADHD -- Undiagnosed
  • Alzheimer Disease -- Undiagnosed
  • Migraine -- Undiagnosed
  • Concentration Disorders -- Undiagnosed
  • Stroke -- Undiagnosed
  • Bipolar Disorder -- Undiagnosed
  • Schizophrenia -- Undiagnosed
  • Epilepsy -- Undiagnosed
• more undiagnosed conditions...»

Misdiagnosis and Persistent Vegetative State

Undiagnosed stroke leads to misdiagnosed aphasia: BBC News UK reported on a man who had been institutionalized and treated for mental illness because he suffered from sudden inability to speak. This was initially...read more »

Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for a patient to show mental decline to dementia. Whereas this can, of course, occur due to various medical conditions, such...read more »

Mild traumatic brain injury often remains undiagnosed: Although the symptoms of severe brain injury are hard to miss, it is less clear for milder injuries, or even...read more »

MTBI misdiagnosed as balance problem: When a person has symptoms such as vertigo or dizziness, a diagnosis of brain injury may go overlooked. This is particularly true of mild...read more »

Brain pressure condition often misdiagnosed as dementia: A condition that results from an excessive pressure of CSF within the brain is often misdiagnosed. It may be misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease or ...read more »

Post-concussive brain injury often misdiagnosed: A study found that soldiers who had suffered a concussive injury in battle often were misdiagnosed on their return. A variety of...read more »

Children with migraine often misdiagnosed: A migraine often fails to be correctly diagnosed in pediatric patients. These patients are not the typical migraine sufferers, but migraines can also occur in...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Persistent Vegetative State

Persistent Vegetative State: Research Doctors & Specialists

Research related physicians and medical specialists:

• Neurology (Brain/CNS Specialists):
  • Neurology (Brain/CNS Specialists)
  • Pediatric Neurology (Child Brain Specialist)
  • Pediatric Neurosurgery (Child Neurosurgeon)
  • Clinical Neurophysiology
  • Neurodevelopment Disabilities
  • Neurosurgery (Brain Surgery)
  • Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine (Nerve/Muscle/Bone Specialists)
  • Neuroradiology
  • Vascular Neurology
  • Neuropathology
  • Otology / Neurotology (Ear/Hearing Specialists)
• Stroke & Vascular Specialists:
  • Vascular Neurology (Brain Blood Vessels)
  • Vascular & Interventional Radiology
  • Vascular Surgery (Blood Vessel Surgeon)
  • Neuropathology (Brain Diagnostics)
• Senior Health Specialists (Geriatrics):
  • Geriatric Medicine (Senior Health Specialist)
  • Geriatric Psychiatry (Senior Mental Health)
• more specialists...»

Other doctor, physician and specialist research services:

• Rate Your Doctor Online
• Research Your Doctor Online
• Review Patient Surveys About Your Doctor
• Research local specialists including ratings, affiliations, and sanctions.

Persistent Vegetative State: Rare Types

Rare types of diseases and disorders in related medical categories:

• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Rare Types:
  • Adult ADHD -- Rare Types
  • ADHD -- Rare Types
  • Alzheimer Disease -- Rare Types
  • Migraine -- Rare Types
  • Concentration Disorders -- Rare Types
  • Stroke -- Rare Types
  • Bipolar Disorder -- Rare Types
  • Schizophrenia -- Rare Types
  • Epilepsy -- Rare Types
• more rare diseases...»

Causes of Persistent Vegetative State

Read more about causes of Persistent Vegetative State.

More information about causes of Persistent Vegetative State:

• Persistent Vegetative State as a complication caused by other conditions
• Medical news summaries relating to Causes of Persistent Vegetative State

Treatments for Persistent Vegetative State

• Watchful waiting - some patients recovery some or all function over time.
• Preventing bed sores
• Pneumonia prevention treatments
• Nutritional support
• Physical therapy
• more treatments...»

Read more about treatments for Persistent Vegetative State

News Archives for Persistent Vegetative State

Medical news articles related to Persistent Vegetative State include:

• Fewer Deaths Occurring From Brain Bleeds
• Nighttime Urination Linked to Higher Death Rate Among Elderly
• 1 in 5 U.S. Deaths Attributed to Smoking, High BP
• Racial Disparity in Death Rate May Be Avoidable
• Death Certificates Incomplete for Suicide Victims
• more health news...»

Source: HealthDay News

Evidence Based Medicine Research for Persistent Vegetative State

Medical research articles related to Persistent Vegetative State include:

• Hypothermia Therapy after Traumatic Brain Injury in Children
• Predictive value of somatosensory evoked potentials for awakening from coma
• Predicting outcome after traumatic brain injury: practical prognostic models based on a large cohort of international patients. MRC Crash Trial Collaborators
• Hypothermia therapy after traumatic brain injury in children.
• Guidelines for the early management of adults with ischemic stroke. A guideline from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Stroke Council, Clinical Cardiology Council, Cardiovascular Radiology and Intervention Council, and the Atheros
• Brain death
• Medicolegal Neurology: Special Issues (Overview)
• more research...»

Click here to find more evidence-based articles on the TRIP Database

Videos for Persistent Vegetative State

Patient Surveys for Persistent Vegetative State

• Patient Profile Survey
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• Survey about the symptoms of your Persistent Vegetative State
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Prognosis for Persistent Vegetative State

Prognosis for Persistent Vegetative State: The outcome for coma and vegetative state depends on the cause and on the location, severity, and extent of neurological damage: outcomes range from recovery to death. People may emerge from a coma with a combination of physical, intellectual, and psychological difficulties that need special attention. Recovery usually occurs gradually, with patients acquiring more and more ability to respond. Some patients never progress beyond very basic responses, but many recover full awareness. Patients recovering from coma require close medical supervision. A coma rarely lasts more than 2 to 4 weeks. Some patients may regain a degree of awareness after vegetative state. Others may remain in a vegetative state for years or even decades. The most common cause of death for a person in a vegetative state is infection such as pneumonia. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Coma Information Page: NINDS)

More about prognosis of Persistent Vegetative State

Reseach about Persistent Vegetative State

Visit our research pages for current research about Persistent Vegetative State treatments.

Clinical Trials for Persistent Vegetative State

The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.

Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Persistent Vegetative State include:

• The Effect of Nebulized Albuterol on Donor Oxygenation - This study is not yet open for patient recruitment (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - Albuterol
• Thyroxine Replacement in Organ Donors - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - L-thryoxine
• Protective Ventilatory Strategy in Potential Organ Donors - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• A Study to Tailor Advance Directives - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• more trials...»

Read more about Clinical Trials for Persistent Vegetative State

Persistent Vegetative State: Broader Related Topics

• Brain conditions
• more types...»

Types of Persistent Vegetative State

Stories from Users Related to Persistent Vegetative State

• Doctors are baffled as to why I have persistant spots and flashes in my vision..
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• desparate for ur help Re: death
• Dad's Death after Shoulder Replacement Surgery
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• In a crazy state
• closed to death, symptoms with no treatment
• persistent undiagnosed symptoms
• Unknown Cause of death
• Either im paranoid or death is coming
• My Husbands Death should not have happened
• Two siblings, two seperate states and both too sick. . .
• persistant dull testicular ache
• scared to death
• Death w/ no known cause
• Unknown Cause of Death
• My son's symptoms have persisted for 3 years
• Moved to China, weird cold like symtoms persisting over a month.
• death CAN BE HELPED

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User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Persistent Vegetative State, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

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• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for this?
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Article Excerpts about Persistent Vegetative State

A persistent vegetative state, which sometimes follows a coma, refers to a condition in which individuals have lost cognitive neurological function and awareness of the environment but retain noncognitive function and a perserved sleep-wake cycle. It is sometimes described as when a person is technically alive, but his/her brain is dead. However, that description is not completely accurate. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Coma Information Page: NINDS)

Definitions of Persistent Vegetative State:

A state of prolonged irreversible cessation of all brain activity, including lower brain stem function with the complete absence of voluntary movements, responses to stimuli, brain stem reflexes, and spontaneous respirations. Reversible conditions which mimic this clinical state (e.g., sedative overdose, hypothermia, etc.) are excluded prior to making the determination of brain death. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, pp348-9) - (Source - Diseases Database)

Persistent Vegetative State is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This means that Persistent Vegetative State, or a subtype of Persistent Vegetative State, affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Source - National Institutes of Health (NIH)