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Topic: Persistent vegetative state

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	Persistent vegetative state - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		A persistent vegetative state (PVS) is a permanent condition of patients with severe brain damage in whom coma has progressed to a state of wakefulness without detectable awareness.
		Patients in a persistent vegetative state are usually considered to be unconscious and unaware.
		In the United States, it is estimated that there may be between 15,000-40,000 patients who are in a persistent vegetative state, but due to poor nursing home records exact figures are hard to determine.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Persistent_vegetative_state (1128 words)

	Coma and Persistent Vegetative State
		A persistent vegetative state, which sometimes follows a coma, refers to a condition in which individuals have lost cognitive neurological function and awareness of the environment but retain noncognitive function and a perserved sleep-wake cycle.
		In persistent vegetative state the individual loses the higher cerebral powers of the brain, but the functions of the brainstem, such as respiration (breathing) and circulation, remain relatively intact.
		The outcome for coma and vegetative state depends on the cause and on the location, severity, and extent of neurological damage: outcomes range from recovery to death.
	healthlink.mcw.edu /article/921394859.html (413 words)

	Wikinfo \| Persistent vegetative state (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-13)
		A persistent vegetative state (or PVS) is a condition of patients with severe brain damage in whom coma has progressed to a state of "wakefulness without awareness".
		A persistent vegetative state is not the same as coma, the major distinction being that coma sufferers cannot breathe on their own.
		Patients in a persistent vegetative state are usually considered to be unconscious and unaware, but exhibit sleep-wake cycles and some behaviors that can be construed as arising from partial consciousness, such as grinding their teeth, swallowing, smiling, shedding tears, grunting, moaning, or screaming without any apparent external stimulus.
	www.wikinfo.org /wiki.php?title=Persistent_vegetative_state (373 words)

	Persistent Vegetative State - WrongDiagnosis.com
		A state of prolonged irreversible cessation of all brain activity, including lower brain stem function with the complete absence of voluntary movements, responses to stimuli, brain stem reflexes, and spontaneous respirations.
		Persistent Vegetative State is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
		A persistent vegetative state (PVS) is a condition of patients with severe brain damage in whom coma has progressed to a state of wakefulness without detectable awareness.
	www.wrongdiagnosis.com /p/persistent_vegetative_state/intro.htm (1420 words)

	Persistent Vegetative State (PVS)
		Since patients in such a state sometimes show behavior that could be interpreted as evidence of consciousness, the diagnosis is not always self-evident.
		Additionally, the condition of being in a vegetative state is similar to that of other conditions that involve the absence or partial absence of awareness of self and the environment, such as coma, locked-in syndrome and akinetic mutism.
		Some clinicians make a distinction between a persistent vegetative state and a permanent vegetative state based on the duration of the vegetative state, but there is little difference in the prognosis and the ethical considerations remain very similar, if not identical.
	www.ascensionhealth.org /ethics/public/issues/persistent.asp (166 words)

	Persistent Vegetative State
		Persistent vegetative state is also often referred to a permanent vegetative state (although this is currently losing preference because there is the possibility of recovery) and has also been referred to as apallic syndrome or wachkoma in the past.
		In short, a wakeful unconscious state that lasts longer that a few weeks is referred to as a persistent vegetative state.
		Persistent vegetative state is a condition that will continue to be at the center of controversy until a greater understanding of the condition is found, and more accurate definitions and methods for diagnosis it are determined.
	www.cwu.edu /~chem/courses/Chem564/finalpapers/PVSfinal.html (3112 words)

	Woman in Presumed Vegetative State May Be Aware - CME Teaching Brief® - MedPage Today
		Explain that a persistent vegetative state is one in which the patient may appear to be awake but has no evidence of higher brain function, is unresponsive, and does not exhibit reproducible responses to external stimulation.
		Schiavo was the woman in a persistent vegetative state who was the focus of a medical and political storm last year, pitting her husband and so-called death-with-dignity proponents against her parents and so-called right-to-life advocates.
		Although patients in a persistent vegetative state may move, grunt, cry, or laugh, the diagnosis hinges on an absence of reproducible evidence that such movements or behaviors are purposeful responses to external stimuli.
	www.medpagetoday.com /Neurology/GeneralNeurology/tb/4070 (1085 words)

	University of Minnesota Human Rights Library -- Links
		Persons with overwhelming damage to the cerebral hemispheres commonly pass into a chronic state of unconsciousness called the vegetative state in which the body cyclically awakens and sleeps but expresses no behavioral or cerebral metabolic evidence of possessing cognitive function or of being able to respond in a learned manner to external events or stimuli.
		Recovery from the vegetative state is possible, especially during the first few days or weeks after onset, but the tragedy is that many persons in PVS live for many months or years if provided with nutritional and other supportive measures.
		Once qualified clinicians have determined that a person is awake but unaware, the permanence of the vegetative state depends on the nature of the brain injury, the duration of the period of unawareness, and the estimated prognosis.
	www1.umn.edu /humanrts/instree/vegetativestate.html (584 words)

	AMA (Virtual Mentor) Clinical Pearl (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-13)
		Although cases of the permanent vegetative state were undoubtedly rare prior to the 1960s, the Multi-society Task Force on the Persistent Vegetative State estimated in 1994 that there were 10,000 to 25,000 adults and 4,000 to 10,000 children in persistent vegetative states in the United States.
		Whatever the primary cause of the vegetative state, such as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy secondary to a cardiac or pulmonary arrest, or shearing injuries in brain trauma, there is extensive damage to the higher centers of the brain, with relative preservation of the brain stem structures.
		So the term “persistent” should be restricted to patients in a vegetative state of at least 1-month duration, while “permanent” should be used when it can be determined with an extremely high degree of certainty that the condition is irreversible.
	www.ama-assn.org /ama/pub/category/12720.html (1064 words)

	Coma and Persistent Vegetative State Information Page: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
		An individual in a state of coma is alive but unable to move or respond to his or her environment.
		Even though those in a persistent vegetative state lose their higher brain functions, other key functions such as breathing and circulation remain relatively intact.
		Although individuals in a persistent vegetative state may appear somewhat normal, they do not speak and they are unable to respond to commands.
	www.ninds.nih.gov /health_and_medical/disorders/coma_doc.htm (508 words)

	NHS Direct - Health encyclopaedia -Vegetative state
		Vegetative state is caused as a result of severe injury to the part of the brain that controls thought and personality.
		A person in a vegetative state may seem to be awake and reflex responses may remain, but it is widely accepted that they have no awareness of their surroundings and that they are incapable of feeling mental distress or physical pain.
		A person who has been in a vegetative state for more than one month is said to be in a persistent vegetative state.
	www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk /articles/article.aspx?articleId=426 (229 words)

	Persistent Vegetative State/Permanent Vegetatative State
		It is now over twenty years since Jennett and Plum in 1972 coined the name "persistent vegetative state" to describe a state that is "neither unconscious nor coma in the usual sense of these terms...
		Patients with ‘persistent vegetative state’ (PVS) are often cited in discussions of ethicists as examples of human beings who are unconscious and do not experience life, and a number of theoretical and practical recommendations have been made on that basis.
		Its attempt to propose a condition called Permanent Vegetative State, which would be based on a high degree of medical certainty either that there is no further hope for recovery of consciousness or that, if consciousness were recovered, the patient would be left severely disabled, confuses two different issues.
	home.vicnet.net.au /~borth/PVS.htm (591 words)

	End-of-Life Options: Tube Feeding
		It can mean, for example, that before a person can be considered to be in a persistent vegetative state (PVS), that determination must be certified by two specialist physicians, along with the patient's attending physician.
		Locked-In State: The locked-in state is sometimes referred to as the state of severe and permanent paralysis.
		Persistent Vegetative State (PVS): A clinical condition of complete unawareness of the self and environment.
	www.dickinson.edu /endoflife/Glossary.html (968 words)

	BMA - Treatment decisions for patients in persistent vegetative state (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-13)
		The persistent vegetative state (pvs) presents particular medical, ethical and legal dilemmas because of the extreme nature of the condition, the difficulties associated with diagnosing it accurately and the risks of premature diagnosis.
		In the United States, a Task Force [Go to reference 2] examined various aspects of the condition in depth and these views informed the subsequent guidance issued by the RCP in 1996 [Go to reference 3].
		The BMA believes that it is vital that stimulation and rehabilitation should be available for patients suspected of being in a persistent vegetative state as soon as their condition is stabilised.
	www.bma.org.uk /ap.nsf/Content/pvs (2201 words)

	Medical Aspects of the Persistent Vegetative State— Second of Two Parts
		Among the 434 patients in a vegetative state, the outcome at one year, according to the Glasgow Outcome Scale, was as follows: 33 percent had died, 15 percent were in a persistent vegetative state, 28 percent had severe disability, 17 percent had moderate disability, and 7 percent had a good recovery.
		Considering the small total number of patients in a persistent vegetative state, the probability that an individual patient will have such a prolonged survival (i.e., over 15 years) is exceedingly low, probably less than 1 in 15,000 to 75,000 (calculations available from the task force).
		An epidemiologic study of patients in a persistent vegetative state living in nursing homes found that each received an average of 3.7 prescribed medications daily and had an average of 1.2 hospitalizations during their stay in the nursing home39.
	www.freerepublic.com /focus/f-backroom/1366161/posts (4813 words)

	For first time, doctors communicate with patient in persistent vegetative state \| Science \| Guardian Unlimited
		Although she had emerged from a coma, she was diagnosed as being in a vegetative state, in which patients enter a cycle of sleeping and waking and even open their eyes, but are completely unresponsive.
		Scientists now have to discover how common it is for others in a vegetative state to be similarly aware of their surroundings.
		Persistent vegetative state was first described in 1972 by Scottish and American neurologists and only came to medical attention because of extraordinary advances in keeping severely brain-damaged patients alive for longer.
	www.guardian.co.uk /science/story/0,,1867596,00.html (1043 words)

	World Federation of Right to Die Societies: news
		The permanent vegetative state is diagnosed when a patient is unaware of himself or herself and his or her environment and there is no prospect of any change in this state by any means.
		This might apply both to patients in the permanent vegetative state in whom prognosis was uncertain and to patients in a persistent low awareness state.
		Society has responded to the problem of patients in the permanent vegetative state by concentrating solely on patients who are undoubtedly unaware and on the specific interests of the patient, finding a legal way to allow the generally acceptable decision to be reached.
	www.worldrtd.net /news/world/?id=427 (2278 words)

	Accuracy of diagnosis of persistent vegetative state - Tips from Other Journals American Family Physician - Find ...
		The number of patients in a persistent vegetative state is expected to increase as technology in supportive care advances.
		Coma is a state of unresponsiveness with closed eyes, and persistent vegetative state is a state of unawareness with intermittently open eyes.
		Another possible explanation for the overdiagnosis of persistent vegetative state may be that medical personnel often are not able to observe the patient for a prolonged period of time, and may therefore miss subtle changes in the level of cognitive awareness.
	www.findarticles.com /p/articles/mi_m3225/is_n8_v48/ai_14674772 (444 words)

	The persistent vegetative state -- Howard and Miller 310 (6976): 341 -- BMJ
		to a persistent or permanent vegetative state or death.
		Persistent vegetative state: report of the American Neurological Association committee on ethical affairs.
		Withdrawal of life-support from patients in a persistent vegetative state.
	bmj.bmjjournals.com /cgi/content/full/310/6976/341 (1134 words)

	Persistent Vegetative State
		Individuals in persistent and permanent vegetative states (both called PVS) are not dead, although philosophers still debate whether they are "people." Their brains still function at a very rudimentary level; they have sleep-wake cycles; and they normally can breathe without assistance.
		After one month health practitioners call the condition a "persistent vegetative state." If their brain damage is the result of a non-traumatic event, adults and children rarely emerge from a persistent vegetative state after being in it for three months.
		If they remain in a persistent vegetative state for six months, 32 percent will die, 52 percent will go on to a permanent vegetative state, 12 percent will recover with severe disabilities, and 4 percent will recover with moderate or minimal disability.
	www.deathreference.com /Nu-Pu/Persistent-Vegetative-State.html (682 words)

	THE PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE AND THE WITHDRAWAL OF NUTRITION AND HYDRATION
		I. The persistent vegetative state may be defined loosely as a condition in which there is no awareness of the self or the surroundings though the patient appears at times to be awake.
		Coma is an "abnormality of brain function characterized by an unconscious sleep-like state with the eyes closed." While several kinds of coma have a high mortality rate, coma is a potentially reversible condition.
		As stated above, the PVS individual is not dead in the holistic physiological sense.
	www.bethel.edu /~rakrob/files/PVS.html (8188 words)

	Tampabay: In a vegetative state, actions are involuntary reflexes
		Early in the litigation, several doctors testified that Schiavo is in a vegetative state, which her parents did not dispute then.
		Two doctors picked by her husband and one picked by the judge said she was in a vegetative state.
		Doctors who diagnosed her in a persistent vegetative state cite CAT scans that show severe brain damage and fluid filling her cerebral cortex, which is one of the brain's higher-functioning centers.
	www.sptimes.com /2005/03/24/Tampabay/In_a_vegetative_state.shtml (665 words)

	Persistent vegetative state: diagnosis with an agenda :: Medical Issues :: BlogsforTerri
		A person diagnosed in a wakeful coma (so-called ‘persistent vegetative stated or PVS) still has a functioning brain stem, which controls the mechanisms of breathing, digestion, and reflexes, so they are not brain dead.
		Many experts suggest that a patient be classified as being in a persistant vegetative state (PVS) if he or she continues to remain in a vegetative state at least one year after a traumatic brain injury.
		People are not vegetables; although I do believe some of the judges and others who support dehydration and starvation of the disabled/infirm have mush for brains.
	www.blogsforterri.com /archives/2005/04/persistent_vege.php (1435 words)

	Catholic Culture : Document Library : Caring for Persons in the Persistent Vegetative State
		The "persistent vegetative state" is a form of deep unconsciousness.
		Since even bishops offer conflicting advice on the morality of providing food artificially to persons in the persistent vegetative state, it is evident that the issue is a most difficult one to address properly.
		While unequivocally condemning as absolutely immoral suicide and all forms of euthanasia, whether by acts of commission or by acts of omission, this document reaffirmed traditional Catholic teaching that one is not obliged to use all possible means to preserve and prolong human life.
	www.catholicculture.org /docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=3481 (2548 words)

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