Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31139508›Full record

ArticlePeerJ2019

Automated pupillometry to detect command following in neurological patients: a proof-of-concept study.

Alexandra Vassilieva, Markus Harboe Olsen, Costanza Peinkhofer, Gitte Moos Knudsen, Daniel Kondziella

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PeerJ, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed
2.2field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Prognosis of consciousness disorders in the intensive care unit.Presse medicale (Paris, France : 1983) · 2023
    Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.

Alexandra VassilievaDepartment of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Markus Harboe OlsenDepartment of Neuroanesthesiology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Costanza PeinkhoferDepartment of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Gitte Moos KnudsenDepartment of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Daniel KondziellaDepartment of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Rigshospitalet · DKUniversity of Copenhagen · DK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLevels of consciousness in patients with acute and chronic brain injury are notoriously underestimated. Paradigms based on electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) may detect covert consciousness in clinically unresponsive patients but are subject to logistical challenges and the need for advanced statistical analysis.

methodsTo assess the feasibility of automated pupillometry for the detection of command following, we enrolled 20 healthy volunteers and 48 patients with a wide range of neurological disorders, including seven patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), who were asked to engage in mental arithmetic.

resultsFourteen of 20 (70%) healthy volunteers and 17 of 43 (39.5%) neurological patients, including 1 in the ICU, fulfilled prespecified criteria for command following by showing pupillary dilations during ≥4 of five arithmetic tasks. None of the five sedated and unconscious ICU patients passed this threshold.

conclusionsAutomated pupillometry combined with mental arithmetic appears to be a promising paradigm for the detection of covert consciousness in people with brain injury. We plan to build on this study by focusing on non-communicating ICU patients in whom the level of consciousness is unknown. If some of these patients show reproducible pupillary dilation during mental arithmetic, this would suggest that the present paradigm can reveal covert consciousness in unresponsive patients in whom standard investigations have failed to detect signs of consciousness.

Indexed as

CognitionComaConsciousnessDisorders of consciousnessLocked-in syndromeNeurorehabilitationPupilsStrokeTraumatic brain injuryVegetative state

Identifiers

PMID31139508
PMCPMC6521812
OpenAlexW2951252451

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.