Synonyms
Coma vigile
Short Description or Definition
A vegetative state (VS) is a type of unconsciousness in which the patient is capable of wakefulness but not awareness. It is characterized by intermittent and sometimes prolonged wakeful eye opening in the absence of cognitive function, evidenced by lack of meaningful response or purposeful activity.
Categorization
Jennett (1997) noted that patients who were unconscious but demonstrated wakefulness have been described in the literature using terms, such as apallic syndrome and coma vigile; the term vegetative was applied to these patients beginning in 1963. Persistent vegetative state (PVS) was a term coined by Jennett and Plum (1972) in an attempt to bring some order to the inconsistent clinical description of patients who were unconscious but who had emerged from coma, demonstrated by eye opening and the presence of a discernable wakeful state. Jennett and Plum stated that the term was not meant to imply irreversibility, but the...
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References and Readings
Beaumont, J. G., & Kenealy, P. M. (2005). Incidence and prevalence of the vegetative and minimally conscious states. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 15(3/4), 184–189.
Borthwick, C. J. (1996). The permanent vegetative state; ethical crux, medical fiction? Issues in Law & Medicine, 12, 167–185.
Forsyth, R., & Jayamoni, B. (2003). Noradrenergic agonists for acute traumatic brain injury. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 1, CD003984.
Giacino, J. T., & Whyte, J. (2005). The vegetative and minimally conscious states: Current knowledge and remaining questions. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 20, 30–50.
Giacino, J. T., Ashwal, S., Childs, N., Cranford, R., Jennett, B., Katz, D. I., et al. (2002). The minimally conscious state: Definition and diagnostic criteria. Neurology, 58, 349–353.
Giacino, J. T., Kalmer, K., & Whyte, J. (2004). The JFK Coma Recovery Scale – Revised: Measurement characteristics and diagnostic utility. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 85, 2020–2029.
Giacino, J., Whyte, J., Bagiella, E., et al. (2012). Placebo-controlled trial of amantadine for severe traumatic brain injury. New England Journal of Medicine, 366(3), 819–826.
Howsepian, A. A. (1996). The 1994 Multi-Society Task Force consensus statement on the persistent vegetative state: A critical analysis. Issues in Law & Medicine, 12, 3–29.
Jennett, B. (1997). A quarter century of the vegetative state: An international perspective. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 12, 1–12.
Jennett, B. (2004). The vegetative state. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jennett, B., & Plum, F. (1972). Persistent vegetative state after brain damage. A syndrome in search of a name. Lancet, 1, 734–737.
Lombardi, F., Taricco, M., De Tanti, A., Telaro, E., & Liberati, A. (2002). Sensory stimulation of brain-injured individuals in coma or vegetative state: Results of a Cochrane systematic review. Clinical Rehabilitation, 16, 464–472.
Rotundi, A. J., Sinkule, J., Balzer, K., Harris, J., & Moldovan, R. (2007). A qualitative needs assessment of persons who have experienced traumatic brain injury and their primary family caregivers. The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 22, 14–25.
The Multi-Society Task Force on the Persistent Vegetative State. (1994). Statement on medical aspects of the persistent vegetative state. New England Journal of Medicine, 330, 1499–1508, 1572–1579.
Whyte, J., Katz, D., Long, D., Dipasquale, M. C., Polansky, M., Kalmar, K., et al. (2005). Predictors of outcome in prolonged posttraumatic disorders of consciousness and assessment of medication effects: A multicenter study. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 86, 453–462.
Wijdicks, E. F. M. (2006). Minimally conscious state vs persistent vegetative state: The case of Terry (Wallis) vs the case of Terri (Schiavo). Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 9, 1155–1158.
Wijdicks, E. F. M., & Cranford, R. E. (2005). Clinical diagnosis of prolonged states of impaired consciousness in adults. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 8, 1037–1046.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Kean, J., Williams, T. (2018). Vegetative State (Persistent). In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_287
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_287
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57110-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-57111-9
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences