1/2. Physiologic and prognostic significance of "alpha coma".A patient with posthypoxic "alpha coma" is described whose EEGs were recorded before coma, within two hours following the onset of coma and after recovery. The differences observed between the alpha activity during coma and that seen before and after suggest that the alpha activity during coma and the physiologic alpha rhythm are different phenomena. This case, as well as others reported, also suggests that "alpha coma" resolving in the first 24 hours following hypoxia may have a better prognosis than "alpha coma" detected after the first day, and stresses the need for EEG monitoring begun in the immediate period following hypoxia in order to assess accurately the prognostic significance of this EEG pattern in the early stages of postanoxic encephalopathy. The aetiology of "alpha coma" also affects outcome. The survival rate appears higher in patients with respiratory arrest than in those with combined cardiopulmonary arrest.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = coma (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/2. Motor aphasia due to prolonged hypoglycaemic coma in a patient with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.A 45-year-old insulin-dependent diabetic man was in a hypoglycaemic coma for one month but recovered after continuous infusion of glucose and insulin. An isolated neurological deficit, motor aphasia, persisted after recovery from the coma. Repeated computerized tomography did not demonstrate any abnormal findings attributable to coma or aphasia. Precise follow-up examinations of aphasia showed improvement of Broca type motor aphasia to transcortical motor aphasia. Hypoglycaemic aphasia in a patient after recovery from prolonged coma is rare and its clinical course and pathogenesis are discussed with reference to the available literature.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.66666666666667keywords = coma (Clic here for more details about this article) |