A minimally conscious state is
distinguished from vegetative state by the partial preservation of conscious
awareness.
- Some patients with severe alteration in consciousness
have neurological findings that do not meet criteria for vegetative state
(VS).
- These patients demonstrate some behavioral evidence of
conscious awareness but remain unable to reproduce this behavior
consistently; the condition referred here is the minimally conscious state
(MCS).
- To make the diagnosis of MCS, limited but clearly
discernible evidence of self or environmental awareness must be
demonstrated on a reproducible or sustained basis by one or more of
behaviors like verbal yes/no responses regardless of accuracy, purposeful
behavior, including movements or emotional behaviors that occur in
relation to relevant environmental stimuli and are not due to reflexive
activity.
- Some examples of qualifying purposeful behavior
include: appropriate smiling or crying in response to the emotional but
not to neutral topics, vocalizations or gestures that occur in direct
response to the linguistic content, reaching for objects.
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