Premium
Alpha‐pattern coma: 24 cases with 9 survivors
Author(s) -
Grindal Alan B.,
Suter Cary,
Martinez A. Julio
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410010408
Subject(s) - coma (optics) , brainstem , medicine , electroencephalography , anesthesia , alpha (finance) , cardiology , surgery , psychiatry , physics , optics , construct validity , patient satisfaction
Alpha‐pattern coma denotes the association of a comatose state with an electroencephalogram consisting predominately of alpha‐frequency activity. Over the past three years we have studied 24 such cases: 14 following cardiopulmonary arrest, 6 following respiratory arrest, and 3 following brainstem infarction. Of the 9 patients who survived, only 1 had a significant neurological deficit. It was found that: (1) alpha‐pattern coma can result from a variety of neurological insults; (2) a significant proportion of patients survive, often with little or no deficit: (3) clinical evidence of intact brainstem function implies a favorable outcome; (4) the electroencephalogram was similar in survivors and nonsurvivors and did not differentiate diffuse cerebral dysfunction from focal brainstem disease; and (5) neuropathological studies demonstrated diffuse cortical as well as brainstem changes.