A Simpler Test to Predict Recovery from Acute Unresponsive States

Following traumatic brain injury, EEG may be used to detect a response to covert language, which is associated with improved neurologic outcome.

There is an unmet clinical need for new tools to increase prognostic accuracy following traumatic brain injury, particularly for patients with absent command-following after sedation withdrawal, when families are frequently faced with difficult decisions about goals of care. Previous work has shown that covert consciousness can be detected in such patients using functional MRI (fMRI) or electroencephalography (EEG) and that, when present, covert consciousness has important prognostic implications. In this study, the authors investigated whether a passive speech comprehension task, assessed by EEG, can improve prognostic accuracy in this population.

Twenty-one eligible patients with traumatic brain injury, absent command-following 2 to 7 days…

Reviewing Author

Craig Williamson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardNational Football League

RoyaltiesUpToDate, Inc.

Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health

Editorial BoardsNeurocritical Care