consciousness

Question 1

3 disorders of consciousness

Answer 1

coma, vegetative state, mimimally conscious state

Question 2

define coma

Answer 2

state if unrousable unresponsiveness, lasting more than 6 hours, where person can’t be awakened, respond normally to painful stimuli, light and sound, lacks normal sleep-wake cycle, and doesn’t initiate voluntary actions

Question 3

define vegetative state

Answer 3

state of wakefulness without awareness in which there’s preserved capacity for spontaneous or stimulus-induced arousal, evidenced by sleep-wake cycles and range of reflexive and spontaneous behaviours

Question 4

what is vegetative state characterised by

Answer 4

complete absence of behavioural evidence for self or environmental awareness

Question 5

define minimally conscious state

Answer 5

state of severely altered consciousness in which minimal but clearly discernible behavioural evidence of self or environmental awareness is demonstrated

Question 6

what is minimally conscious state characterised by

Answer 6

inconsistent but reproducible responses above level of spontaneous or reflexive behaviour, indicating some degree of interaction with surroundings

Question 7

what is damaged in vegetitive state

Answer 7

cortex and hemispheres

Question 8

what is damaged in brainstem death

Answer 8

brainstem

Question 9

4 causes of coma

Answer 9

metabolic, diffuse intracranial, hemisphere lesion, brain stem

Question 10

2 causes of coma

Answer 10

metabolic, diffuse intracranial

Question 11

6 causes of diffuse intracranial comas

Answer 11

head injury, meningitis, subarachnoid haemorrhage, encephalitis, epilepsy, hypoxic brain injury

Question 12

6 causes of diffuse intracranial comas

Answer 12

head injury, meningitis, subarachnoid haemorrhage, encephalitis, epilepsy, hypoxic brain injury

Question 13

4 causes of hemisphere lesion comas

Answer 13

cerebral infarct, cerebral haemorrhage (subdural or extradural; more likely to be haemorrhagic stroke), abscess, tumour

Question 14

5 causes of brainstem comas

Answer 14

brainstem infarct, tumour, abscess, cerebellar haemorrhage, cerebellar infarct

Question 15

MRI of extradural haemorrhage and lucid interval

Answer 15

elipitical bleed; lucid interval: struck on side of head -> initial loss of consciousness (concussion) -> damage artery -> wake up as bleeding into brain -> lose consciousness again due to high intracranial pressure

Question 16

what is diffuse axonal injury, and example of location

Answer 16

disorder of white matter tracts e.g. corpus callosum