(New York Times) People with severe brain injuries sometimes emerge from a coma awake but unresponsive, leaving families with painful questions. Are they aware? Can they think and feel? Do they have any chance of recovery?
A new study has found that PET scans may help answer these wrenching questions. It found that a significant number of people labeled vegetative had received an incorrect diagnosis and actually had some degree of consciousness and the potential to improve. Previous studies using electroencephalogram machines and M.R.I. scanners have also found signs of consciousness in supposedly vegetative patients.
"I think these patients are kind of neglected by both medicine and society," said Dr. Steven Laureys, an author of the new study and the director of the Coma Science Group at the University of Liège in Belgium. "Many of them don't even see a medical doctor or a specialist for years. So I think it's very important to ask the question, are they unconscious?"