Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Coma”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 343 records · Page 19Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

Intermittent negative pressure ventilation in the treatment of hypoxic hypercapnic coma in chronic respiratory insufficiency.

BACKGROUND: In recent years non-invasive ventilatory techniques have been used successfully in the treatment of acute on chronic respiratory failure (ACRF), but careful selection of patients is essential and a comatose state may represent an exclusion criterion. The aim of this retrospective and uncontrolled study was to evaluate whether a non-invasive ventilatory technique such as the iron lung could also be used successfully in patients with hypoxic hypercapnic coma, thus widening the range for application of non-invasive ventilatory techniques. METHODS: A series of 150 consecutive patients with ACRF and hypoxic hypercapnic coma admitted to our respiratory intensive care unit were evaluated retrospectively. The most common underlying condition was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (79%). On admission a severe hypoxaemia (Pao2 5.81 (3.01) kPa) and hypercapnia (Paco2 14.88 (2.78) kPa) associated with a decompensated acidosis (pH 7.13 (0.13)) were present, the Glasgow coma score ranged from 3 to 8, and the mean APACHE II score was 31.6 (5.3). All patients underwent intermittent negative pressure ventilation with the iron lung. The study end point was based on a dichotomous classification of treatment failure (defined as death or need for endotracheal intubation) versus therapeutic success. RESULTS: There were 45 treatment failures (30%) and 36 deaths (24%). Nine patients (6%) required intubation because of lack of airway control. The median total duration of ventilation was 27 hours per patient (range 2-274). The 105 successfully treated cases recovered consciousness after a median of four hours (range 1-90) of continuous ventilatory treatment and were discharged after 12.1 (9.0) days. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that, in patients with acute on chronic respiratory failure and hypoxic hypercapnic coma, the iron lung resulted in a high rate of success. As this study has the typical limitations of all retrospective and uncontrolled studies, the results need to be formally confirmed by controlled prospective studies. Confirmation of these results could widen the range of application of non-invasive ventilatory techniques.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Brain O2 consumption and glutamate release during hypoglycemic coma in piglets are temperature sensitive.

Hypoglycemic injury in the mature brain is mediated by excitotoxicity, which is worsened by disordered cellular energy metabolism. The role of excitotoxicity in relation to brain energy metabolism during hypoglycemia has not been studied in the immature brain. Brain oxygen consumption (CMRO2) increases during hypoglycemia in piglets, whereas CMRO2 decreases in adult pig models. We tested the hypothesis that increased CMRO2 during hypoglycemic coma is temperature dependent and coincides with increased excitatory amino acids (EAA). We measured cerebral blood flow (CBF), CMRO2, and cortical microdiaysate EAA in pentobarbital-anesthetized piglets during hypoglycemic coma and during 2 h of recovery and in normoglycemic controls. In warmed animals brain temperature was kept normothermic (38.5 degrees C). In unwarmed animals brain temperature was allowed to fall (37.6 degrees C). During hypoglycemia CBF increased similarly in warmed animals and unwarmed animals; CMRO2 increased in warmed animals but not unwarmed animals. Glutamate increased during coma and increased more in warmed animals than unwarmed animals but normalized quickly during recovery. EEG recovered earlier in unwarmed animals. We conclude that during a hypoglycemic coma in the immature brain, CMRO2 and glutamate are increased in a temperature-dependent manner.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Is the EEG cyclic alternating pattern a true autonomous entity? Analytic study in a case of post-traumatic coma with good prognosis.

The cyclic alternating pattern (CAP) characterizes stage-II coma according to Fischgold and Mathis. Its evolution and prognostic value are still uncertain. An analytic investigation of CAP and its components (phase A of greater arousal and phase B of lesser arousal) was conducted on a patient with post-traumatic coma who completely recovered. The relationships between this type of pattern and the stages of physiologic sleep were investigated during four prolonged night recordings taken at regular intervals. The evolution of CAP in post-traumatic coma is compared with the development of CAP observed in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The hypothesis is suggested that CAP may be related to other cyclic phenomena, especially the Lundberg B-type CSF pressure waves. According to this assumption, in a coma with CAP, mechanisms for the organization of arousal, which are not known but persist up to the threshold of death, could still be acting. In sleep these same mechanisms are supposed to be integrated with others, more sophisticated and less resistant to pathogenic injuries.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Head injury in the infant and toddler. Coma scoring and outcome scale.

This is a retrospective review of all closed-head injured children, ages 1-36 months, admitted to the Children's Memorial Hospital from 1959 to 1978. Injuries ranged from trivial to those producing deep coma. A coma scoring system (to correlate level of consciousness with age and outcome) was devised. Lateralizing neurological signs, fontanelle status, retinal hemorrhages, seizures, and skull fractures were correlated with age, outcome, and late onset of seizures. Children of 1 year and younger were more prone to have a poor outcome in all coma grades except the deepest, where the trend apparently reversed. Of the three components of the coma score (ocular, motor, verbal) the ocular score more constantly reflected neurological damage. Subdural hematomas, which were largely responsible for poorer outcomes in infants, occurred almost exclusively in children under 1 year of age. Lateralizing neurological signs, which were not found to correlate directly with a poor outcome, were unilateral Babinski, ataxia, and the combination of ocular deviation and hemiparesis (which is probably a seizure variant). Hemiparesis alone, however, did correlate directly with a poor outcome, as did full, and especially tense, fontanelle, and split sutures or diastatic fractures. Linear fractures, when unilateral, were not associated with a poor outcome, although bilateral linear and depressed fractures were. Bilateral retinal hemorrhages were found to be both quantitatively and qualitatively different from unilateral retinal hemorrhages, and to be statistically more often associated with subdural hematoma.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1990

The principle of parsimony: Glasgow Coma Scale score predicts mortality as well as the APACHE II score for stroke patients.

Although the development and use of severity-of-illness measures has gained widespread enthusiasm, uncertainty remains as to the optimal measure for stroke patients. The Health Care Financing Administration recently derived a severity-of-illness measure based on the APACHE II system to explain differences in Medicare mortality rates among hospitals treating stroke patients. We hypothesized that the Glasgow Coma Scale score provides prognostic information of accuracy comparable to that of the APACHE II score for stroke patients, yet is simpler and cheaper to abstract from the medical record. We therefore studied 246 patients hospitalized with stroke, including 49 oversampled mortalities. The Glasgow Coma Scale score was as accurate as the APACHE II score in predicting stroke mortality both before (r = -0.50 and r = 0.50, respectively) and after (r = -0.40 and r = 0.38, respectively) the oversampled mortalities were excluded. The APACHE II score required abstraction of 16 variables from the medical record compared with three for the Glasgow Coma Scale score and required more than three times the time to abstract from the medical record. Therefore, in the interest of parsimonious data collection, the Glasgow Coma Scale may be a preferable severity-of-illness measure for patients with stroke.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Motor aphasia due to prolonged hypoglycaemic coma in a patient with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

A 45-year-old insulin-dependent diabetic man was in a hypoglycaemic coma for one month but recovered after continuous infusion of glucose and insulin. An isolated neurological deficit, motor aphasia, persisted after recovery from the coma. Repeated computerized tomography did not demonstrate any abnormal findings attributable to coma or aphasia. Precise follow-up examinations of aphasia showed improvement of Broca type motor aphasia to transcortical motor aphasia. Hypoglycaemic aphasia in a patient after recovery from prolonged coma is rare and its clinical course and pathogenesis are discussed with reference to the available literature.

Aphasia, Broca↗
PubMed1983

Electroencephalographic findings in pediatric cases of coma.

Electroencephalographic aspects of coma in 201 children are presented. The ages of the subjects ranged between 1 month and 14 years. The EEG picture was not specific. Diffuse slowing and convulsive activity were present in meningoencephalitis and postconvulsive coma. Diffuse slowing was also present in coma of metabolic origin. Mixed slow and fast activity was typical of coma due to benzodiazepines, barbiturates and alcohol. In patients with intracerebral hemorrhages, there was marked focal slowing associated with generalized delta and theta waves. In 12 patients with craniocerebral trauma, the EEG showed generalized slowing which was associated with focal reduction of voltage in 6 cases and with convulsive activity in 2. Extreme slowing or an isoelectric recording had a bad prognosis. The reappearance of sleep spindles was a favorable sign.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Use of somatosensory evoked responses in the prediction of outcome from coma.

Present data on 60 comatose patients with head trauma, hypoxia and cerebrovascular disease suggested that SER may yield quantitative, useful information concerning the functional state of the cerebral cortex. To assess the prognosis of individual patients we propose to classify patients from various etiologies of coma into the following categories: I. If there is bilateral absence of cortical responses, irrespective of the etiology of coma, none of these patients recover. II. If the initial cortical responses in the first 24 hours are normal, then it is imperative that these should be repeated in the first week before any definitive prognosis can be given, (since as in one case, we noted on the fifth day there was distortion of amplitude of his response and eventually the cortical responses were unobtainable, therefore indicating a poor prognosis). III. Patients who have normal responses throughout the acute course of illness carry an excellent prognosis from coma of all etiologies, except with ischemic etiology. The prognosis remains favorable for recovery from coma, but these patients may remain with significant neurological deficits. IV. When there is a 75% drop in the amplitude of the responses, it indicates a poor prognosis for ultimate neurological recovery, and the majority of these patients will remain in a persistent vegetative state. V. In patients with intermediate reduction in amplitude, 25-50% carried a moderate prognosis, and the majority of these cases in our series were able to perform activities of daily living.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1981

Spindle coma: incidence, clinicopathologic correlates, and prognostic value.

Three hundred seventy comatose patients were studied clinically and electrographically. Of these, 5.7% showed the "spindle coma" electroencephalogram (EEG) pattern. Spindle coma was associated with head injury, nontraumatic intracranial hemorrhage, cerebral anoxia, and other causes. Levels of consciousness, pupillary responses, ocular movements, patterns of respiration, and muscle tone all failed to correlate with either the occurrence or the outcome of "spindle coma." At autopsy, lesions were most frequent in the centrum medianum, thalamic nuclei, and rostral brainstem, but no characteristic lesion was found. Our data indicate that sleep spindles during coma are unrelated to prognosis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Etiology and prognosis of alpha coma.

We reviewed our experience with alpha coma, the finding of predominantly alpha-frequency rhythms in the EEGs of unconscious patients, and identified 50 patients. Cardiac arrest, either inside (n = 25) or outside (n = 24) the hospital, was the cause of unconsciousness in all except one patient who had hyperglycemic, hyperosmolar coma. After out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the risk of never regaining consciousness or dying during hospitalization did not differ significantly between unconscious patients with (n = 24) and without (n = 69) alpha frequencies in their EEGs. A review of the literature supports our findings that alpha coma most commonly follows cardiac arrest and does not preclude the possibility of neurologic recovery. We conclude that alpha coma is a descriptive term and lacks prognostic significance in itself.

Alpha Rhythm↗
PubMed1997

Barbiturate coma in severe hemispheric stroke: useful or obsolete?

Barbiturates are administered in a variety of clinical conditions to control elevated intracranial pressure (ICP). However, their routine use to treat elevated ICP has been questioned because it may cause severe side effects. We therefore investigated the effect of high-dose barbiturate therapy on ICP and outcome in patients with severe brain edema after severe middle cerebral artery (MCA) or hemispheric infarction. Barbiturate coma was induced with thiopental infusion in 60 patients with critically increased ICP due to large hemispheric or MCA territory infarction, defined by CT. ICP was monitored in all patients during barbiturate therapy. Barbiturate coma was induced after a standardized treatment protocol for increased ICP after failure of osmotherapy and mild hyperventilation. During barbiturate administration, cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) and mean arterial pressure were recorded. Clinical outcome of these patients and the individual effect on ICP were analyzed. Only five of 60 patients who were treated with barbiturate coma survived (8%). All other patients died after transtentorial herniation with subsequent brain death. Barbiturate infusion was followed by a drop in ICP in 50 patients and showed no effect on ICP values in 10 patients. CPP decreased with a mean of 9 mm Hg (range, 5 to 20 mm Hg). Although barbiturates were initially effective, only in some patients was ICP control sustained. Severe side effects of barbiturate therapy, besides arterial hypotension, were seen in 15 patients (25%). Barbiturate coma in the therapy of increased ICP after severe ischemic hemispheric stroke can lower critically elevated ICP levels. However, it seems to have no positive effect on neurologic outcome.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

The Edinburgh-2 coma scale: a new scale for assessing impaired consciousness.

In the management of patients with acute cerebral disturbances, it is essential to determine precisely the degree of impaired consciousness. However, a coma scale for assessing impaired levels of consciousness has not yet been standardized internationally. The Edinburgh-2 coma scale (E2 CS) is introduced and compared with the Glasgow coma scale (GCS). The reliability of the E2 CS was tested by comparing levels of the E2 CS with the outcome of patients who underwent neurosurgical operations. A good correlation was observed between the levels of the E2 CS and the outcome. A change of two levels suggests that some change influencing the outcome has occurred or exists within the cranium of the patient. A correlation between the E2 CS and the GCS was proven to exist. The merits and drawbacks of both scales are discussed. One advantage of the E2 CS is that it has removed ambiguous terms, which are still present in the GCS. Also it is easier to grasp changes in a patient's condition shown on a chart because the levels of the E2 CS are arranged first-dimensionally. Use of the GCS should not preclude the use of other scales, such as the E2 CS; the E2 CS could be used together with the GCS. The accumulation of data on both scales would provide information useful in improving the existing coma scales.

Brain Diseases↗
PubMed2003

Flumazenil and dialysis for gabapentin-induced coma.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a case of gabapentin-induced coma that was reversed with flumazenil and hemodialysis. CASE SUMMARY: We describe an 83-year-old dialysis-dependent white man who became comatose after a single dose of gabapentin for phantom limb pain. The patient was successfully revived from the coma with administration of flumazenil, which was then followed by hemodialysis. Serum concentration data before and 4 hours after dialysis document the effectiveness of hemodialysis for gabapentin toxicity. DISCUSSION: An objective causality assessment revealed that this adverse event was probably related to the gabapentin that the patient received. To our knowledge, this is the first documented case of not only gabapentin-induced coma, but also the effectiveness of flumazenil for treatment of this type of coma. Although therapeutic hemodialysis has been previously described, our case report is strengthened by the serum concentration monitoring accompanying it. CONCLUSIONS: This report underscores the importance of initiating gabapentin therapy at low doses in dialysis-dependent patients and introduces a novel treatment for those who experience toxicity.

Acetates↗
PubMed1994

Opposite changes in serum sodium and potassium in patients in diabetic coma.

We studied the changes in serum sodium (Na) and potassium (K) levels in seventeen patients in diabetic ketoacidosis and nine patients in non-ketotic hyperosmolar coma, who had marked hyperglycemia (707.4 +/- 75.6 mg/dl, mean +/- SEM) and dehydration. The disorder characterized two types of alteration. The one group was hyponatremia with hyperkalemia in 17 patients in diabetic ketoacidosis (132.9 +/- 2.0 and 5.7 +/- 0.2 mEq/l), and 4 patients in non-ketotic hyperosmolar coma (125.8 +/- 4.3 and 5.2 +/- 0.5 mEq/l). The other was hypernatremia (162.5 +/- 1.8 mEq/l) with hypokalemia (3.4 +/- 0.2 mEq/l) in 5 patients in non-ketotic hyperosmolar coma. Intensive therapy with insulin and fluid administration improved the diabetic hyperglycemia and associated abnormalities. The vectors showing the normalization of serum Na and K levels was in quite opposite directions between the patients with hyponatremia with hyperkalemia and those with hypernatremia with hypokalemia. The amounts of loss of circulatory blood volume exceeded 20% in three groups of patients, a loss greater in the hypernatremic patients than in the hyponatremic ones. These results indicate that serious body water depletion produces hypernatremia instead of hyponatremia in patients in diabetic coma. The disorder may be caused by the altered distribution of electrolytes between the intra- and extra-cellular spaces.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Treatment of myxoedema coma--factors associated with fatal outcome.

Treatment of myxoedema coma has been associated with a high mortality. The causes of death were analysed in this paper by retrospective study of the records of 11 myxoedema coma patients. The serum thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) levels were estimated retrospectively from the amounts of hormone given to the patients by a two-compartment model. Seven patients died and 4 survived. The patients who died were significantly older (78.9 +/- 2.2 years, mean +/- SEM) than those who survived (66.8 +/- 3.7 years). The initial heart rate was lower in the decreased group, but both groups had increased their heart rate on treatment. The surviving patients showed an increase in body temperature during the first 3 days of treatment, in contrast to the patients who eventually died. The deceased patients had received larger amounts of thyroid hormone and had calculated levels of T3 that were nearly twice as high as those of the surviving patients. Old age and a high serum level of T3 are determinants for the fatal outcome of myxoedema coma. Our analysis underscores the importance of using a cautious replacement regimen in myxoedema coma patients.

Aged↗
PubMed1982

[Prognostic value of potassium and sodium levels in cerebrospinal fluid and blood in patients with coma. Study of 55 cases].

This is a prospective study, with 55 patients in coma, in which wasn't chosen sex, age, intensity of coma or etiology. It was measured the concentration of the potassium and the sodium in cerebrospinal fluid, (CSF) and in the serum, to find an auxiliary way to value the prognostic. It is known that the potassium in the CSF is extremely stable, and it maintains the tax without alterations, even when the potassium in CSF is rapid and intensity raised after death. Experimental studies show the potassium raised in CSF in serious damaged brain. Our results show, in patients who recovered consciousness, normal values (means 2,61 mEq/1) of potassium in CSF. The mean of values of potassium in CSF in the group of patients who had bad evolution (they died) show index estatisticaly up of normal values (2,97 mEq/1) and this shows a serious damaged brain and/or irreversible, able to affect the stability of CSF potassium. These index are present in some kind of coma or etiology, showing that raised potassium in CSF, indicates bad prognostic, in some kind of coma. With the sodium, the results show that this ion doesn't serve to this finality, because its concentrations isn't stable in CSF, and change with the blood alterations of natremia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Coma and death in unrecognized Wernicke's encephalopathy. An autopsy study.

Eleven out of 36 autopsied cases of Wernicke's encephalopathy had developed coma. None of these patients had the diagnosis during life. There were six men and five women with ages ranging from 26 to 50 years (mean 36.6). Seven of these patients were heavy drinkers, three exhibited signs of severe malnutrition, whereas one was being evaluated for a disseminated gastric cancer and one was in treatment of hyperemesis gravidarum. Two patients were brought to the hospital after found unconscious at home. Neuropathological examination disclosed gross changes in the mammillary bodies in eight cases and microscopic changes in all cases. In one case there was atrophy of the anterior superior part of the vermis. Petechial hemorrhages were observed particularly in the walls of the third ventricle. Microscopically there were in addition to hemorrhages, glial proliferation, endothelial hypertrophy and necrosis of nerve cells and myelin. Central pontine myelinolysis was observed in one case. Wernicke's encephalopathy is a clinically underdiagnosed condition. Coma may mask its classical clinical picture or even be the sole manifestation. Although coma points to a poor outlook it may be reversed by thiamine administration. Any patient with coma of unknown etiology should be given parenteral thiamine.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Coma preceded by severe dysphagia in type II diabetes mellitus.

A 62-year-old man with 11 years' duration of type II diabetes was hospitalized because of non-ketotic diabetic coma. He had never noted any symptoms of swallowing difficulty until 3 days before admission when they developed gradually and he became comatous. He had never received special medication such as diuretics except anticonvulsants. Even after the recovery from diabetic coma he could hardly swallow solid foods or saliva for about 15 days, but these symptoms subsided gradually. Motility dysfunction of esophagus and pharynx in diabetes mellitus, in most cases they are mild, has been described, although diabetic coma preceded by dysphagia has not been documented except in one report. We studied, therefore, the autonomic nerve function of the present patient and discussed the relationship between dysphagia and diabetic coma together with the description of the clinical course of this patient. The relationship between this case and the previously reported cases were compared in terms of the sex, age, type of diabetes, clinical course, medication and the autonomic nerve function.

Autonomic Nervous System Diseases↗