Electroencephalography can successfully be used for prognosis in patients with severe brain industry, British researchers have reported.
In the study in Birmingham, UK, EEG was used to detect responses from unconscious patients to speech addressed to them.
The study involved 28 patients with acute brain injury, who were not under sedation and did not respond to commands.
Researchers played they streams of sentences and phrases, made from words of one syllable, and correlated this with EEG responses.
They were able to follow 16 patients for up to six months and found the findings of the EEG test significantly correlated with the patient outcomes, they have reported in Annals of Neurology.
Researcher Dr Damian Cruse said: “The strength of our approach is that we can measure a scale of comprehension without needing any other sort of response from the patient. This insight could significantly reduce prognostic uncertainty at a critical point.
“It could help clinicians make more appropriate decisions about whether or not to continue life-sustaining therapy – and also ensure rehabilitation resources are allocated to patients who are most likely to benefit.”
Cruse et al. Covert speech comprehension predicts recovery from acute post-traumatic unresponsive states. Annals of Neurology 23 December 2020
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