Key result
Neuroimaging and electrophysiological tools assist in detecting residual awareness in disorders of consciousness, supplementing clinical evaluation which remains the gold standard.
Neuroimaging and electrophysiology are important adjuncts to clinical evaluation for diagnosing and establishing communication with patients in disorders of consciousness.
The bedside detection of awareness in disorders of consciousness (DOC) caused by acquired brain injury is not an easy task. For this reason, differential diagnosis using neuroimaging and electrophysiological tools in search for objective markers of consciousness is being employed. However, such tools cannot be considered as diagnostic per se, but as assistants to the clinical evaluation, which, at present, remains the gold standard. Regarding therapeutic management in DOC, no evidence-based recommendations can be made in favor of a specific treatment. The present review summarizes clinical and paraclinical studies that have been conducted with neuroimaging and electrophysiological techniques in search of residual awareness in DOC. We discuss the medical, scientific and ethical implications that derive from these studies and we argue that, in the future, the role of neuroimaging and electrophysiology will be important not only for the diagnosis and prognosis of DOC but also in establishing communication with these challenging patients.
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Demertzi et al. (2008) conducted a review in Disorders of consciousness. Neuroimaging and electrophysiological assessment vs. Clinical bedside evaluation was evaluated. Neuroimaging and electrophysiological tools assist in detecting residual awareness in disorders of consciousness, supplementing clinical evaluation which remains the gold standard.
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