Table 2 Diagnosis of vegetative state [1, 16]
No evidence of awareness of themselves or their environment; they are incapable of interacting with others. No evidence of sustained, reproducible, purposeful, or voluntary behavioral responses to visual, auditory, tactile, or noxious stimuli. No evidence of language comprehension or expression. Intermittent wakefulness manifested by the presence of sleep-wake cycles. Sufficiently preserved hypothalamic and brainstem autonomic functions to survive if given medical and nursing care. Bowel and bladder incontinence. Variably preserved cranial nerve (pupillary, oculocephalic, corneal, vestibule-ocular, and gag) and spinal reflexes. |