Scan predicts which coma patients might awaken

April 17, 2014  20:30

A hi-tech scanner may tell whether a patient with a brain injury and in coma has a chance of regaining consciousness, the new study said.

In an unprecedented trial among comatose patients, Belgian researchers said the scanner, an expensive tool not routinely used for this purpose, could identify those who were unresponsive but showed consciousness, Newsmax Health reported.

"PET imaging can reveal cognitive processes that aren't visible through traditional bedside tests," said Steven Laureys, a professor at the University of Liege, who led the study.

Doctors treating a comatose patient often struggle to determine their level of consciousness.

The research also used the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner, which has the same goal but uses a different technique -- it identifies the uptake of oxygen by activated brain cells.

Over four-and-a-half years, Laureys and a team tested the two tools on 81 patients in MCS, and 41 in the vegetative state.

The patients were scanned after they underwent the standardized examination called the coma recovery scale-revised (CSR-R) test.

The PET scan was 93-percent accurate in spotting a patient in MCS, compared with 45 percent with fMRI. PET images were also more useful in gauging how far a patient could recover, compared to tests conducted a year after the scan. 

The CSR-R test diagnosed 36 patients as unresponsive. But the PET scan showed that a third of them appeared to have brain activity consistent with some consciousness -- a prediction that was subsequently borne out among nine in this group.

 

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