Coma

Ashraf El-Mitwalli,MD
Lecturer of Neurology
Mansoura Faculty of Medicine
23/6/2008
Neural basis of consciousness

 Consciousness cannot be readily

defined in terms of anything else

A state of awareness of self and

surrounding
 MentalStatus =
Arousal + Content
 Anatomy of Mental Status
 Ascending reticular activating system (ARAS)
 Activating systems of upper brainstem, hypothalamus,
thalamus
 Determines the level of arousal
 Cerebral hemispheres and interaction
between functional areas in cerebral
hemispheres
 Determines the intellectual and emotional functioning
 Interaction between cerebral hemispheres and
activating systems
 The content of consciousness

 Sum of patient’s intellectual (cognitive)

functions and emotions (affect)
Sensations, emotions, memories, images,
ideas (SEMII)
 Depends upon the activities of the cerebral
cortex, the thalamus & their interrelationship

Lesions of these structures will diminish the

content of consciousness (without changing the
state of consciousness)
The state of consciousness (arousal)

 The ascending RAS, from the lower border

of the pons to the ventromedial thalamus
 The cells of origin of this system occupy a
paramedian area in the brainstem
 Altered Mental Status
Abnormal change in level of arousal or altered
content of a patient's thought processes

 Change in the level of arousal or alertness

 inattentiveness, lethargy, stupor, and coma.

 Change in content
 “Relatively simple” changes: e.g. speech, calculations,
spelling
 More complex changes: emotions, behavior or personality
 Examples: confusion, disorientation, hallucinations, poor
comprehension, or verbal expressive difficulty
 Definitions of levels of arousal (conciousness)

 Alert (Conscious) - Appearance of wakefulness, awareness

of the self and environment
 Lethargy - mild reduction in alertness

 Obtundation - moderate reduction in alertness. Increased

response time to stimuli.
 Stupor - Deep sleep, patient can be aroused only by
vigorous and repetitive stimulation. Returns to deep sleep
when not continually stimulated.
 Coma (Unconscious) - Sleep like appearance and
behaviorally unresponsive to all external stimuli
(Unarousable unresponsiveness, eyes closed)
Semicoma was defined as
complete loss of consciousness
with a response only at the
reflex level (now obsolete)
Psychogenic unresponsiveness
 The patient, although apparently
unconscious, usually shows some response
to external stimuli
 An attempt to elicit the corneal reflex may
cause a vigorous contraction of the
orbicularis oculi
 Marked resistance to passive movement of
the limbs may be present, and signs of
organic disease are absent
 Vegetative state (coma vigil, apallic syndrome)

 Patients who survive coma do not remain in

this state for > 2–3 weeks, but develop a
persistent unresponsive state in which sleep–
wake cycles return.
 After severe brain injury, the brainstem
function returns with sleep–wake cycles, eye
opening in response to verbal stimuli, and
normal respiratory control.
 Locked in syndrome

 Patient is awake and alert, but unable to

move or speak.
 Pontine lesions affect lateral eye movement
and motor control
 Lesions often spare vertical eye movements
and blinking.
Vegetative

Locked-in
 Confusional state

 Major defect: lack of attention

 Disorientation to time > place > person
 Patient thinks less clearly and more slowly
 Memory faulty (difficulty in repeating
numbers (digit span)
 Misinterpretation of external stimuli
 Drowsiness may alternate with hyper
-excitability and irritability
 Delirium

 Markedly abnormal mental state

Severe confusional state
 PLUS Visual hallucinations &/or
delusions
(complex systematized dream like state)
 Marked: disorientation, fear, irritability,
misperception of sensory stimuli
 Pt. out of true contact with environment and
other people
 Common causes:
1. Toxins
2. metabolic disorders
3. partial complex seizures
4. head trauma
5. acute febrile systemic illnesses
To cause coma, as defined as a state of
unconsciousness in which the eyes are
closed and sleep–wake cycles absent
 Lesion of the cerebral hemispheres
extensive and bilateral
 Lesions of the brainstem: above the
lower 1/3 of the pons and destroy both
sides of the paramedian reticulum
 The use of terms other than coma
and stupor to indicate the degree of
impairment of consciousness is
beset with difficulties and more
important is the use of coma scales
(Glasgow Coma Scale)
 Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)
Best motor Best verbal Best eye
response (M) response (V) response (E)
6 Obeys commands 5 Oriented 4 Eyes opening
spontaneously

5 Localizes to pain 4 Confused 3 Eye opening to

speech

4 Withdraws from pain 3 Inappropriate words 2 Eye opening in

response to pain

3 Flexion in response to 2 Incomprehensible 1 No eye opening

pain sounds

2 Extension to pain 1 None

1 No motor response
 Individual elements as well as the sum of
the score are important.
 Hence, the score is expressed in the form
"GCS 9 = E2 V4 M3 at 07:35

Generally, comas are classified as:

 Severe, with GCS ≤ 8
 Moderate, GCS 9 - 12
 Minor, GCS ≥ 13.
 Approaches to DD
Unresponsive

ABCs
Glucose, ABG, Lytes, Mg,
Ca, Tox, ammonia
Pseudo-Coma
Y N Psychogenic,
IV D50, narcan, Looked-in,
flumazenil
Unconscious
NM paralysis

Brainstem N Diffuse brain dysfunction

LP± CT
or other metabolic/ infectious
Focal signs
Y Focal lesions
CT Tumor, ICH/SAH/ infarction
 Approaches to DD

General examination:
On arrival to ER immediate attention to:
1. Airway
2. Circulation
3. establishing IV access
4. Blood should be withdrawn: estimation of
glucose # other biochemical parameters #
drug screening
 Attention is then directed towards:
1. Assessment of the patient
2. Severity of the coma
3. Diagnostic evaluation
 All possible information from:

1. Relatives
2. Paramedics
3. Ambulance personnel
4. Bystanders
particularly about the mode of onset
 Previous medical history:
1. Epilepsy
2. DM, Drug history
 Clues obtained from the patient's
1. Clothing or
2. Handbag
 Careful examination for
1. Trauma requires complete exposure and ‘log
roll’ to examine the back
2. Needle marks
 Ifhead trauma is suspected, the
examination must await adequate
stabilization of the neck.
 Glasgow Coma Scale: the severity of
coma is essential for subsequent
management.
 Following this, particular attention
should be paid to brainstem and motor
function.
Temperature
Hypothermia
 Hypopituitarism, Hypothyroidism
 Chlorpromazine
 Exposure to low temperature
environments, cold-water immersion
Risk of hypothermia in the elderly with
inadequately heated rooms,
exacerbated by immobility.
 C/P: generalized rigidity and muscle
fasciculation but true shivering may be
absent. (a low-reading rectal
thermometer is required).
 Hypoxia and hypercarbia are common.
 Treatment:
1. Gradual warming is necessary
2. May require peritoneal dialysis with warm
fluids.
Hyperthermia (febrile Coma)

 Infective: encephalitis, meningitis

 Vascular: pontine, subarachnoid hge
 Metabolic: thyrotoxic, Addisonian crisis
 Toxic: belladonna, salicylate poisoning
 Sun stroke, heat stroke
 Coma with 2ry infection: UTI, pneumonia,
bed sores.
Hyperthermia or heat stroke
Loss of thermoregulation dt. prolonged
exertion in a hot environment
 Initial ↑ in body temperature with profuse
sweating followed by
 hyperpyrexia, an abrupt cessation of
sweating, and then
 rapid onset of coma, convulsions, and death
 This may be exacerbated by certain drugs,
‘Ecstasy’ abuse—involving a loss of the thirst
reaction in individuals engaged in prolonged
dancing.
Other causes
 Tetanus
 Pontine hge
 Lesions in the floor of the third ventricle
 Neuroleptic malignant syndrome
 Malignant hyperpyrexia with anaesthetics.
 Heat stroke neurological sequelae

 Paraparesis.
 Cerebellarataxia.
 Dementia (rare)
Pulse
 Bradycardia: brain tumors, opiates,
myxedema.
 Tachycardia: hyperthyroidism, uremia

Blood Pressure
 High: hypertensive encephalopathy
 Low: Addisonian crisis, alcohol, barbiturate
Skin
 Injuries, Bruises: traumatic causes
 Dry Skin: DKA, Atropine
 Moist skin: Hypoglycemic coma
 Cherry-red: CO poisoning
 Needle marks: drug addiction
 Rashes: meningitis, endocarditis
Pupils
 Size, inequality, reaction to a bright light.
 An important general rule: most metabolic
encephalopathies give small pupils with
preserved light reflex.
 Atropine, and cerebral anoxia tend to
dilate the pupils, and opiates will constrict
them.
Structural lesions are more commonly
associated with pupillary asymmetry and with
loss of light reflex.
 Midbrain tectal lesions : round, regular,
medium-sized pupils, do not react to light
 Midbrain nuclear lesions: medium-sized
pupils, fixed to all stimuli, often irregular and
unequal.
 Cranial n III distal to the nucleus: Ipsilateral
fixed, dilated pupil.
 Pons (Tegmental lesions) : bilaterally small
pupils, {in pontine hge, may be pinpoint,
although reactive} assess the light response
using a magnifying glass
 Lateral medullary lesion: ipsilateral Horner's
syndrome.
 Occluded carotid artery causing cerebral
infarction: Pupil on that side is often small
 Diencephalons

Small, reactive

Midbrain

Medium-sized, fixed Dilated, Fixed

Pons

Ipsilateral dilated, Fixed small, pinpoint

In hge reactive
.
 Ocular movements
 The position of the eyes at rest
 Presence of spontaneous eye movement
 The reflex responses to oculocephalic and
oculovestibular maneuvers
 In diffuse cerebral disturbance but intact
brainstem function, slow roving eye
movements can be observed
 Frontal lobe lesion may cause deviation of
the eyes towards the side of the lesion
 Lateralpontine lesion can cause
conjugate deviation to the opposite side
 Midbrain lesion Conjugate deviation
downwards
 Structural brainstem lesion disconjugate
ocular deviation
The oculocephalic (doll's head) response
rotating the head from side to side and
observing the position of the eyes.
 If the eyes move conjugately in the
opposite direction to that of head
movement, the response is positive and
indicates an intact pons mediating a
normal vestibulo-ocular reflex
Caloric oculovestibular responses These are
tested by the installation of ice-cold water
into the external auditory meatus, having
confirmed that there is no tympanic
rupture.
 A normal response in a conscious patient
is the development of nystagmus with the
quick phase away from the stimulated side
This requires intact cerebropontine
connections
Odour of breath

 Acetone: DKA
 Fetor Hepaticus: in hepatic coma
 Urineferous odour: in uremic coma
 Alcohol odour: in alcohol intoxication
Respiration
 Cheyne–Stokes respiration:
(hyperpnoea alternates with apneas) is
commonly found in comatose patients,
often with cerebral disease, but is
relatively non-specific.
Rapid, regular respiration is also common
in comatose patients and is often found
with pneumonia or acidosis.
 Central neurogenic hyperventilation
Brainstem tegmentum (mostly tumors):
↑ PO2, ↓ PCO2, and
Respiratory alkalosis in the absence of any
evidence of pulmonary disease
Sometimes complicates hepatic encephalopathy
 Apneustic breathing
Brainstem lesions Pons may also
give with a pause at full inspiration
 Ataxic:
Medullary lesions: irregular
respiration with random deep and
shallow breaths
 Cheyne-Stocks

Central Neurogenic Hyperventilation

Apneustic

Cluster

Ataxic
Abnormal breathing patterns in coma
Cheynes - Stokes

Central Neurogenic
Midbrain

Apneustic
Pons

Ataxic Medulla

ARAS
Motor function
 Particular attention should be directed
towards asymmetry of tone or movement.
 The plantar responses are usually extensor,
but asymmetry is again important.
 The tendon reflexes are less useful.
 The motor response to painful stimuli should
be assessed carefully (part of GCS)
 Painful stimuli: supraorbital nerve pressure
and nail-bed pressure. Rubbing of the
sternum should be avoided (bruising and
distress to the relatives)
 Patients may localize or exhibit a variety of
responses, asymmetry is important
 Flexion of the upper
limb with extension
of the lower limb
(decorticate
response) and
extension of the
upper and lower
limb (decerebrate
response) indicate a
more severe
disturbance and
prognosis.
 Signs of lateralization
 Unequal pupils
 Deviation of the eyes to one side
 Facial asymmetry
 Turning of the head to one side
 Unilateral hypo-hypertonia
 Asymmetric deep reflexes
 Unilateral extensor plantar response (Babinski)
 Unilateral focal or Jacksonian fits
Head and neck
 The head
1. Evidence of injury
2. Skull should be palpated for depressed
fractures.
 The ears and nose: haemorrhage and
leakage of CSF
 The fundi: papilloedema or subhyaloid or
retinal haemorrhages
 Neck: In the presence of trauma to the
head, associated trauma to the neck
should be assumed until proven
otherwise.
 Positive Kernig's sign : a meningitis or
SAH. If established as safe to do so, the
cervical spine should be gently flexed
 Neck stiffness may occur:
1. ↑ ICP
2. incipient tonsillar herniation
Causes of COMA
 CNS causes of coma

Cerebrovascular disease is a frequent cause

of coma.
 Mechanism:

Impairment of perfusion of the RAS

 With hypotension
 Brainstem herniation ( parenchymal hge,
swelling from infarct, or more rarely,
extensive brainstem infarction)
 Subarachnoid haemorrhage

Loss of consciousness is common with

SAH
 only about 1/2 of patients recover
from the initial effects of the
haemorrhage.
 Causes of coma:

1. Acute ↑ICP and

2. Later, vasospasms, hyponatraemia
 Parenchymal haemorrhage

May cause a rapid decline in consciousness,

from
1. Rupture into the ventricles
2. or subsequent herniation and brainstem
compression.
 Cerebellar haemorrhage or infarct with
1. Subsequent oedema
2. Direct brainstem compression, early
decompression can be lifesaving.
 Hypotension

 The critical blood flow in humans

required to maintain effective cerebral
activity is about 20 ml/100 g/min and
any fall below this leads rapidly to
cerebral insufficiency.
 The causes:
1. syncope in younger patients
2. cardiac disease in older patients.
 Hypertensive encephalopathy

 Now rare with better control of blood

pressure.
 C/P: impaired consciousness, grossly
raised blood pressure, papilloedema.
 Neuropathologically: fibrinoid necrosis,
arteriolar thrombosis, microinfarction,
and cerebral oedema (failure of
autoregulation)
 Raised intracranial pressure

 Mass effects: tumours, abscesses,

haemorrhage, subdural, extradural
haematoma, brainstem herniation→
distortion of the RAS.
 C/P: depends on normal variation in
the tentorial aperture, site of lesion,
and the speed of development.
 Herniation and loss of consciousness
Lesions located deeply, laterally, or in the
temporal lobes > located at a distance, such
as the frontal and occipital lobes.
 Rate of growth: slowly growing tumours may
achieve a substantial size and distortion of
cerebral structure without impairment of
consciousness, in contrast to small rapidly
expanding lesions
 Central herniation involves
downward displacement of the upper
brainstem
 Uncal herniation in which the medial
temporal lobe herniates through the
tentorium
 Central herniation: small pupils are followed
by midpoint pupils, and irregular respiration
gives way to hyperventilation as coma
deepens.
 Uncal herniation: a unilateral dilated pupil,
due to compression of the III nerve, and
asymmetric motor signs. As coma deepens,
the opposite pupil loses the light reflex and
may constrict briefly before enlarging.
 Rarely, Upward herniation can occur with
posterior fossa masses
 Head injury

 The leading cause of death below the age

of 45, head injury accounts for 1/2 of all
trauma deaths
 A major cause of patients presenting with
coma.
 A history is usually available and, if not,
signs of injury such as bruising of the scalp
or skull fracture lead one to the diagnosis
 Alcohol on the breath provides a direct
clue to a cause of coma, evidence of
head injury need not necessarily imply
that this is the cause.
 Epileptic seizure, may have resulted in
a subsequent head injury
 Damage can be diffuse or focal.
 Rotational forces of the brain cause
surface cortical contusions and even
lacerations, most obvious
frontotemporally because of the
irregular sphenoidal wing and orbital
roof.
 Subdural bleeding due to tearing of
veins
 Diffuse axonal injury is now seen as the
major consequence of head injury and
associated coma.
 Mild degrees of axonal injury also occur
with concussion and brief loss of
consciousness
 Secondary damage can occur from
parenchymal haemorrhage, brain oedema,
and vascular dilatation, all of which will lead
to ↑ICP→ ↓perfusion pressure, which can
be accentuated by systemic hypoxia and
blood loss.
 Subdural and extradural haematomata may
cause impairment of consciousness
following apparent recovery are important to
diagnose, as they are readily treatable
surgically.
 Infections

 Systemic infections may result in coma as

an event secondary to metabolic and
vascular disturbance or seizure activity.
 Direct infections of the CNS, as with
meningitis and encephalitis, can all be
associated with coma.
 Meningitis: the onset is usually subacute,
intense headache, associated with fever
and neck stiffness. meningococcal
meningitis may be rapid in onset
 Diagnosis is confirmed by identifying the
changes in the CSF, from which it may be
possible to isolate the causative organism.
 Prompt treatment of acute meningitis is,
however, imperative and may precede
diagnostic confirmation.
 Encephalitis: usually subacute, and often
associated with fever and/or seizures,
herpes simplex encephalitis may be
explosive at onset, leading to coma within
a matter of hours Treatment with aciclovir,
precedes definitive diagnosis.
Parasitic infections
Cerebral malaria
 25 % mortality rate.
 Associated with 2–10 % of cases of
infection with Plasmodium falciparum.
 C/P: acute profound mental obtundation or
psychosis, leading to coma with extensor
plantar responses
 CSF: may show increased protein,
characteristically there is no pleocytosis
 Hypoglycaemia and lactic acidosis, which
may contribute to the coma.
 Treatment: intravenous quinine.

Steroids, which were at one time prescribed

widely for oedema, are now contraindicated
as they prolong the coma.
Septic patients
 Commonly develop an encephalopathy.
 In some patients this can be severe, with a
prolonged coma.
 Lumbar puncture in such patients is usually
normal or only associated with a mildly
elevated protein level.
 EEG is valuable and is abnormal, ranging
from diffuse theta through to triphasic waves
and suppression or burst-suppression
 Although there is a high mortality,
there is the potential for complete
reversibility
 Presence of coma should not prevent
an aggressive approach to
management of such patients
including, for example, haemodialysis
to deal with acute renal failure
 Metabolic causes of coma

Hepatic coma

The patient is known to be suffering from liver

failure
 May occur in patients with chronic liver failure
and portosystemic shunting (In these cases
jaundice may be absent)
 Precipitation: GIT hge, infection, certain
diuretics, sedatives, analgesics, general
anaesthesia, high-protein food or ammonium
compounds
 Subacute onset, although it can be sudden,
with an initial confusional state often bilateral
asterixis or flapping tremor.
 Asterixis, a -ve myoclonus jerk, results in
sudden loss of a maintained posture. elicited
by asking the subject to maintain extension at
the wrist
 As coma supervenes, there is often
decerebrate and/or decorticate posturing with
extensor plantar responses
 Diagnosis: signs of liver disease hepatic fetor,
and biochemical evidence of disturbed liver
function. EEG with paroxysms of bilaterally
synchronous slow waves in the delta range or
with occasional triphasic waves
 The disturbance of consciousness due to
raised ammonia, and indeed treatments to
reduce ammonia
 endogenous benzodiazepine ligands may
contribute to the hepatic coma,
benzodiazepine antagonist, flumazenil, in
hepatic coma would support this view
Stage I
Personality Changes

Stage II
Lethergy
Flapping tremor
Muscle twitches

Stage III
Nagy
Abusive
Violent

Stage IV
Coma
 Renal coma
 May occur in acute or chronic renal failure
 Raised blood urea alone cannot be
responsible for the loss of consciousness
but the
 Metabolic acidosis, electrolyte disturbances
and Water intoxication due to fluid retention
may be responsible
 Early symptoms Headache, vomiting,
dyspnoea, mental confusion, drowsiness or
restlessness, and insomnia
 Later muscular twitchings, asterixis,
myoclonus, and generalized convulsions are
likely to precede the coma.
 ↑ blood urea or creatinine establishes the
diagnosis (DD hypertensive encephalopathy)
 Dialysis may develop iatrogenic causes of
impaired consciousness.
Dialysis disequilibrium syndrome
1. Is a temporary, self-limiting disorder, but it
can be fatal
2. More common in children and during rapid
changes in blood solutes. Rapid osmotic
shift of water into the brain is the main
problem
3. accompanied by headache, nausea,
vomiting, and restlessness before
drowsiness and marked somnolence.
4. It can occur during or just after dialysis
treatment, but resolves in 1 or 2 days
Dialysis encephalopathy dialysis dementia syndrome
1. Progressive dysarthria, mental changes,
2. progression to seizures, myoclonus,
asterixis, and focal neurological signs
3. terminally, there may be coma
4. EEG: paroxysmal bursts of irregular,
generalized spike and wave activity.
5. has been attributed to the neurotoxic
effects of aluminium: aluminium-containing
antacids and a high aluminium content in
the water
6. Reached its peak prevalence in the mid
1970s, before preventive action was taken.
 Disturbance of glucose metabolism
Diabetic Ketoacidosis
 Subacute onset with late development of
coma.
 Marked ketoacidosis, usually above 40
mmol/l, together with ketonuria.
 Secondary lactic acidosis (DD severe anoxia
or methyl alcohol or paraldehyde poisoning)
 Patients are dehydrated, rapid, shallow
breathing, occasionally acetone on the breath.
 The plantar responses are usually flexor until
coma supervenes.
Hyperglycaemic non-ketotic diabetic coma

 More commonly seen in the elderly.

 Coma is more common than with
ketoacidosis.
 Profound cellular dehydration, risk of
developing cerebral venous thrombosis,
which may contribute to the disturbance of
consciousness.
 It may be induced by drugs, acute
pancreatitis, burns, and heat stroke
 Hypoglycaemic coma

 Much more rapid onset.

 Symptoms appear with blood sugars of less
than 2.5 mmol/l
 Initially autonomic: sweating and pallor, and
then inattention and irritability progressing to
stupor, coma, and frequent seizures.
 May present with a focal onset (hemiparesis)
 Plantar responses are frequently extensor.
 Patients may be hypothermic.
Diagnosis of Hypoglycemic Coma:
 The patient is known to be taking insulin.
 Spontaneous hypoglycaemia with insulinomas
are usually diagnosed late.
 There may be a long history of intermittent
symptoms and in relation to fasting or
exercise.
 May also be precipitated by hepatic disease,
alcohol intake, hypopituitarism, and Addison's
disease
Treatment:
 Glucose, together with thiamine
 Unless treated promptly, hypoglycaemia
results in irreversible brain damage.
Cerebellar Purkinje cells, the cerebral cortex,
and particularly the hippocampus and basal
ganglia are affected
 Dementia and a cerebellar ataxia are the
clinical sequelae of inadequately treated
hypoglycaemia.
 Other endocrine causes of coma
Pituitary failure
 Rare cause of coma and is the result of
hypoglycaemia, hypotension, hypothermia,
and impaired adrenocortical function
 History of fatigue, occasionally depression
and loss of libido
 Patients are very sensitive to infections and
to sedative drugs, which often precipitate
impaired consciousness.
 Pituitaryapoplexy Acute onset of
hypopituitarism occurs with
haemorrhagic infarction in pre-
existing tumours, patients present
with impaired consciousness,
meningism, and opthalmoplegia
 Hypothyroidism

 Mental symptoms are common, with

headaches, poor concentration, and apathy;
this is frequently diagnosed as depression.
 With progression there is increasing
somnolence and, patients become sensitive
to drugs and infections.
 These and cold weather, particularly in the
elderly, may precipitate myxoedemic coma.
 Myxoedemic coma has a high mortality and
is associated with hypoglycaemia and
hyponatraemia.
 low-reading thermometer to detect
hypothermia
 Treatment: support of ventilation and blood
pressure and cautious correction of the
thyroid deficiency with tri-iodothyronine
 Hyperthyroidism
 Mild mental symptoms: anxiety,
restlessness,reduced attention.
 ‘Thyroid storm’ with agitated delirium, which
can progress to coma, may have bulbar
paralysis
 Apathetic form of thyrotoxicosis: particularly
the elderly, with depression leading to
apathy, confusion, and coma without any
signs of hypermetabolism
 Adrenocortical failure

 Mental changes are common in Addison's

disease and secondary hypoadrenalism.
 Undiagnosed Addison's disease is frequently
associated with behavioural changes and
fatigue.
 Infection or trauma may precipitate coma and
associated hypotension, hypoglycaemia, and
dehydration
 Tendon reflexes are often absent
 ↑ ICP, papilloedema
 Friedrichsen–Waterhouse syndrome acute
adrenal failure due to meningococcal
septicaemia a cause of sudden coma in
infants.
 Acute adrenal failure due to HIV infection can
occur
Disturbance of Ca and Mag metabolism
Hypercalcaemia
 Mental confusion, apathy, often with
headache. If severe, stupor and even coma.
 Causes: metastatic bone disease, including
multiple myeloma
Hypocalcaemia
 Primarily affects the peripheral nervous
system, with tetany and sensory disturbance
 It can be associated with ↑ICP and
papilloedema
Hypomagnesaemia
 Inadequate intake and prolonged parenteral
feeding,
 Overshadowed by other metabolic
disturbances, including hypocalcaemia, but
can give rise to a similar clinical picture.
Hypermagnesaemia
 Renal insuf., overzealous replacement of
mag and its use (in eclampsia) can give rise
to mag intoxication, with major CNS
depression.
 Drugs

 Poisoning, drug abuse, and alcohol

intoxication accounting for up to 30 % of
those presenting through accident and
emergency departments.
 80 % require only simple observation in
their management.
 The most commonly drugs in suicide
attempts are :
1. Benzodiazepines
2. Paracetamol
3. antidepressants.
 Narcotic overdoses (heroin)
1. Pinpoint pupils
2. Shallow respirations , needle marks.
3. The coma is easily reversible with naloxone
 Solvent abuse and glue sniffing should
be considered in the undiagnosed patient
with coma.
 Drugs may also result in disturbed
consciousness due to
1. secondary metabolic derangement
2. the acidosis associated with ethylene
glycol and carbon monoxide poisoning
Alcohol intoxication
 Apparent from the history, flushed face,
rapid pulse, and low blood pressure. The
smell of alcohol on the breath.
 Intoxicated are at increased risk of
hypothermia and of head injury can be the
cause of coma.
 At low plasma concentrations of alcohol,
mental changes, at higher levels, coma
ensues, >350 mg/dl may prove fatal.
Miscellaneous causes of coma
 Seizures

 Common cause of coma, with a period of

unconsciousness following a single
generalized seizure commonly lasting
between 30 and 60 minutes.
 Following status epilepticus, there may be a
prolonged period of coma. History, trauma to
the tongue or inside of the mouth.
 Seizures secondary to metabolic
disturbances may have a longer period of
coma.
 Extensive neurological disease

 PMLE
 severe end-stage multiple sclerosis.
 Prion disease may lead to coma over a
short period of 6–8 weeks, but this is
following a progressive course of
widespread neurological disturbance.
 Eclampsia

 In the second half of pregnancy and

represents a failure of autoregulation,
with raised blood pressure.
 Neuropathologically: there are ring
haemorrhages around occluded small
vessels with fibrinoid deposits.
 CP: seizures, cortical blindness, and coma.
 Management: control of convulsions and
raised blood pressure. Parental magnesium
is commonly employed, may give rise to
hypermagnesaemia.
Postpartum complications of pregnancy
cerebral angiitis and venous sinus
thrombosis, may also lead to coma
 Investigation of coma

 At presentation blood will be taken for

determination of glucose, electrolytes, liver
function, calcium, osmolality, and blood
gases.
 Blood should also be stored for a
subsequent drug screen if needed
 Following the clinical examination, a broad
distinction between a metabolic cause,
with preserved pupillary responses, or a
structural cause of coma is likely to have
been established
 Although most patients with coma will
require CT scanning, or indeed all with
persisting coma, clearly this is of greater
urgency when a structural lesion is
suspected
 In the absence of focal signs, but with
evidence of meningitis, a lumbar puncture
may need to be performed before
scanning, as a matter of clinical urgency.
 In other situations, lumbar puncture should
be delayed until after the brain scan
because of the risk of precipitating a
pressure cone secondary to a cerebral
mass lesion
 All patients will require chest radiography
and ECG, detailed investigations of
systemic disease will be directed by the
clinical examination.
 The EEG is of value in identifying the
occasional patient with subclinical status
epilepticus, and is clearly of value in
assessing the patient who has been
admitted following an unsuspected seizure
 Fast activity is commonly found with drug
overdose and slow wave abnormalities
with metabolic and anoxic coma.
 An isoelectric EEG may occur with drug-
induced comas, but otherwise indicates
severe cerebral damage.
Management of the unconscious patient

 Treatment of the underlying cause

 Maintenance of normal physiology: respiration,
circulation, and nutrition
 Patient should be nursed on his or her side
without a pillow
 Attention will clearly need to be paid to the
airway, requiring an oral airway as a minimum
 Intubation, if coma is prolonged, tracheostomy
 Retention or incontinence of urine will require
catheterization
 Intravenous fluid is necessary and, if coma
persists, adequate nutrition is required.
 Care of Skin, frequent changing of position,
special mattress, avoid urine and stool soiling
and good care of bed sores
 Prognosis in coma
 In general, coma carries a serious prognosis.
 This is dependent to a large extent on the
underlying cause.
 Coma due to depressant drugs carries an
excellent prognosis provided that resuscitative
and supportive measures are available and no
anoxia has been sustained
 Metabolic causes, apart from anoxia, carry a
better prognosis than structural lesions and
head injury
 Length of coma and increasing age are of
poor prognostic significance.
 Brainstem reflexes early in the coma are an
important predictor of outcome
 in general, the absence of pupillary light and
corneal reflexes 6 hours after the onset of
coma is very unlikely to be associated with
survival
 The chronic vegetative state usually carries a
uniformly poor prognosis, although a partial
return of cognition, or even restoration to
partial independence, has been reported
very rarely.
 Although unassociated with coma, the
‘locked-in’ syndrome also carries a poor
prognosis, with only rare recoveries reported.