Sections View Full Chapter Figures Tables Videos Annotate Full Chapter Figures Tables Videos Supplementary Content + Download Section PDF Listen ++ For further information, see CMDT Part 24-16: Stupor & Coma + Key Features Download Section PDF Listen +++ ++ Patients with severe bilateral hemispheric disease may show some improvement from an initially comatose state, so that, after a variable interval, they appear to be awake but display no movement This is called a "persistent" vegetative state once it has lasted over 4 weeks and has also been variously referred to as akinetic mutism, apallic state, or coma vigil Patients in a vegetative state from a medical cause (eg, anoxic brain injury) for more than 3 months and from a traumatic brain injury for more than 12 months are said to be in a chronic vegetative state, from which a few patients may regain consciousness but remain severely disabled + Clinical Findings Download Section PDF Listen +++ ++ Patients appear to be awake with open eyelids but lie motionless No evidence of awareness or higher mental activity Simulate coma Unresponsive + Diagnosis Download Section PDF Listen +++ ++ Obtain the expertise of a clinician familiar with this syndrome to aid in the diagnosis Now differentiated from the minimally conscious state + Treatment Download Section PDF Listen +++ ++ Supportive care, palliative care