ReviewFrontiers in human neuroscience2014
Questioning the dichotomy between vegetative state and minimally conscious state: a review of the statistical evidence.
Review in Frontiers in human neuroscience, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02644265 (CONNECT-ME), which is not on this map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
CONNECT-ME: CONsciousness in NEurocritical Care cohorT Study Using fMRI and EEG
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Predicting outcome in disorders of consciousness: A mega-analysis.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2024Pooled it
- [Recommendations for time-limited trial in neurocritical care].Die Anaesthesiologie · 2025Review
- Evaluation of residual cognition in patients with disorders of consciousness based on functional near-infrared spectroscopy.Neurophotonics · 2023Article
- Effects of Acupuncture on Cortical Activation in Patients with Disorders of Consciousness: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
- The neuroethics of disorders of consciousness: a brief history of evolving ideas.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2021Article
- The Timecourse of Electrophysiological Brain-Heart Interaction in DoC Patients.Brain sciences · 2021Article
- Diagnostic Developments in Differentiating Unresponsive Wakefulness Syndrome and the Minimally Conscious State.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Review
- Toward Improving Diagnostic Strategies in Chronic Disorders of Consciousness: An Overview on the (Re-)Emergent Role of Neurophysiology.Brain sciences · 2020Article
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Brain Data and the Outcome in Disorders of Consciousness.Frontiers in neurology · 2018Article
- Consciousness in Neurocritical Care Cohort Study Using fMRI and EEG (CONNECT-ME): Protocol for a Longitudinal Prospective Study and a Tertiary Clinical Care Service.Frontiers in neurology · 2018Article
- Unexpected recovery from a vegetative state or misdiagnosis? Lesson learned from a case report.NeuroRehabilitation · 2017Article
- Functional near infrared spectroscopy as a probe of brain function in people with prolonged disorders of consciousness.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2016Article
- Electroencephalography (EEG) Measures of Neural Connectivity in the Assessment of Brain Responses to Salient Auditory Stimuli in Patients with Disorders of Consciousness.Frontiers in psychology · 2016Article
- Detailed behavioral assessment promotes accurate diagnosis in patients with disorders of consciousness.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Given the enormous consequences that the diagnosis of vegetative state (VS) vs. minimally conscious state (MCS) may have for the treatment of patients with disorders of consciousness, it is particularly important to empirically legitimate the distinction between these two discrete levels of consciousness. Therefore, the aim of this contribution is to review all the articles reporting statistical evidence concerning the performance of patients in VS vs. patients in MCS, on behavioral or neurophysiological measures. Twenty-three articles matched these inclusion criteria, and comprised behavioral, electroencephalographic (EEG), positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures. The analysis of these articles yielded 47 different statistical findings. More than half of these findings (n = 24) did not reveal any statistically significant difference between VS and MCS. Overall, there was no combination of variables that allowed reliably discriminating between VS and MCS. This pattern of results casts doubt on the empirical validity of the distinction between VS and MCS.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.