Citation

Estraneo A, Magliacano A, Fiorenza S, Formisano R, Grippo A, Angelakis E, Cassol H, Thibaut A, Gosseries O, Lamberti G, Noé E, Bagnato S, Edlow BL, Chatelle C, Lejeune N, Veeramuthu V, Bartolo M, Mattia D, Toppi J, Zasler N, Schnakers C, Trojano L. Eur. J. Neurol. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, European Federation of Neurological Societies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/ene.15143

PMID

34657359

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness (pDoC) have a high mortality rate due to medical complications. Since an accurate prognosis is essential for decision-making on patients' management, we analysed data from an international multicentre prospective cohort study to evaluate two-year mortality rate and bedside predictors of mortality.

METHODS: We enrolled adult patients in prolonged vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (VS/UWS) or minimally conscious state (MCS) after traumatic and non-traumatic brain injury within 3 months post-injury. At enrolment we collected demographic (age; sex), anamnestic (etiology; time post-injury), clinical (Coma Recovery Scale Revised, CRS-R; Disability Rating Scale; Nociception Coma Scale-Revised) and neurophysiologic (EEG; somatosensory evoked and event-related potentials) data. Patients were followed-up to gather data on mortality up to 24 months post- injury.

RESULTS: Among 143 traumatic (n=55) and non-traumatic (n=88) patients (VS/UWS=68, 19 females; MCS=75, 22 females), 41 (28.7%) died within 24 months post-injury. Mortality rate was higher in VS/UWS (42.6%) than in MCS (16%; p<.001). Multivariate regression in VS/UWS showed that significant predictors of mortality were older age and lower CRS-R total score, whereas in MCS female sex and absence of alpha rhythm on EEG at study entry were significant predictors.

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that a feasible multimodal assessment in the post-acute phase can help clinicians to identify patients with pDoC at higher risk of mortality within 24 months after brain injury. This evidence can help clinicians and patients' families to navigate the complex clinical decision-making process and promote an international standardization of prognostic procedures for patients with pDoC.

Language: en

Keywords

prognosis; mortality; disorders of consciousness; minimally conscious state; vegetative state