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To be or not to be ... Vegetative

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Intensive Care Medicine

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Abstract

The vegetative state is a clinical diagnosis first defined by Jennett and Plum in 1972 [1]. It is a diagnosis based on the absence of clinical signs of awareness of self or environment despite preserved arousal. That is, if a patient repeatedly fails to answer to commands and if all observed behavior is considered reflexive, the patient is considered to be unconscious.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cyclotron Research Center and Neurology Department, University Hospital, Sart Tilman - B30, 4000, Liège, Belgium

    M. Boly & S. Laureys

  2. MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, UK

    A. M. Owen

Authors
  1. M. Boly
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  2. A. M. Owen
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  3. S. Laureys
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Intensive Care Erasme Hospital, Free University of Brussels, Route de Lennik 808, 1070, Brussels, Belgium

    Jean-Louis Vincent MD, PhD, FCCM, FCCP (Head) (Head)

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Boly, M., Owen, A.M., Laureys, S. (2007). To be or not to be ... Vegetative. In: Vincent, JL. (eds) Intensive Care Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-49518-7_83

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-49518-7_83

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-49517-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-49518-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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