“ We’ re at an exciting crossroad in neurocritical care where we know that many patients appear to be unconscious, but some are recovering without our knowledge.”
Sleep Patterns Could Indicate Hidden Consciousness in Brain Injury Patients
“ We’ re at an exciting crossroad in neurocritical care where we know that many patients appear to be unconscious, but some are recovering without our knowledge.”
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Several studies in the past decade have revealed that up to a quarter of unresponsive patients with recent brain injuries may possess a degree of consciousness that’ s normally hidden from their families and physicians.
New research from Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian may soon help physicians identify unresponsive brain-injury patients with hidden consciousness who are likely to achieve long-term recovery by looking for brain waves that are indicative of normal sleep patterns.
“ We’ re at an exciting crossroad in neurocritical care where we know that many patients appear to be unconscious, but some are recovering without our knowledge. We’ re starting to lift the lid a little bit and find some signs of recovery as it’ s happening,” says Jan Claassen, associate professor of neurology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, who led the study.
“ Families of my patients ask me all the time, will my mother wake up? How is my mother going to look in three, six, or 12 months? Very often we cannot guide them very precisely, and it’ s crucial that we improve our predictions to guide their decision making.”
Sleep and consciousness Claassen, who is also chief of critical care and hospitalist neurology at NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center, has previously developed sophisticated techniques to identify patients with hidden consciousness by analyzing a patient’ s EEG recordings as they are presented with a command in the neurocritical care unit. The techniques detect EEG brain wave activity indicating that the patient