Citation

O'Donnell JC, Browne KD, Kilbaugh TJ, Chen HI, Whyte J, Cullen DK. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 2019; 98: 336-346.

Affiliation

Center for Brain Injury & Repair, Department of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Center for Neurotrauma, Neurodegeneration & Restoration, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, United States; Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States. Electronic address: dkacy@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.12.015

PMID

30550859

Abstract

Following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), many patients experience coma - an unresponsive state lacking wakefulness or awareness. Coma rarely lasts more than two weeks, and emergence involves passing through a state of wakefulness without awareness of self or environment. Patients that linger in these Disorders of Consciousness (DoC) undergo clinical assessments of awareness for diagnosis into Unresponsive Wakefulness Syndrome (no awareness, also called vegetative state) or Minimally Conscious State (periodic increases in awareness). These diagnoses are notoriously inaccurate, offering little prognostic value. Recovery of awareness is unpredictable, returning within weeks, years, or never. This leaves patients' families with difficult decisions and little information on which to base them. Clinical studies have made significant advancements, but remain encumbered by high variability, limited data output, and a lack of necessary controls. Herein we discuss the clear and present need to establish a preclinical model of TBI-induced DoC, the significant challenges involved, and how such a model can be applied to support DoC research.

Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

Disorders of consciousness; coma; large animal models; minimally conscious state; porcine; rotational acceleration; swine; traumatic brain injury; unresponsive wakefulness syndrome; vegetative state