Test Can Calculate A Persons Chance Of Waking From A Coma

Researchers have discovered that by measuring the metabolic activity of a person’s brain while in a coma, they are able to accurately determine whether they are brain dead or still functioning. The researchers found that 42% is the level of brain activity needed for a flicker of consciousness to remain.

It is a grim subject that is often avoided and a situation you wouldn’t wish upon anybody, but occasionally there is a time where a decision has to be made on whether or not they should ‘pull the plug’ on a loved one. If you were faced with this situation, you would want to ensure that there was no chance of recovery before making the decision.

However, the issue is that it is extremely difficult to know whether a comatose person is in a minimal conscious state (MCS), where their cognitive flame is just about alive, or if they are suffering from unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS), which means their cognitive flame is all but extinguished.

Although, there is a team of researchers who have reported that by using a technique called positron emission tomography (PET), they were able to accurately distinguish between MCS and UWS. PET involves inserting radioactive atoms called radionuclides into a person’s body, and measuring the levels of gamma rays given off when they interact with certain tissues. From this, it is possible to calculate the changes in glucose concentrations in body cells over a period of time, which provides an indication of metabolic activity.

When PET scans were performed on 131 patients with disorders of consciousness, the researchers found that the technique enabled them to correctly diagnose whether patients exhibited MCS or UWS.

The results showed that the metabolic activity of those suffering from UWS was 38% of the normal level of a fully conscious person, while this figure rose to 58% for those in a MSC. Based on these findings, the researchers were able to successfully predict whether or not a person would wake from their coma.

How reliable do you think these tests are?