Measures of metabolism and complexity in the brain of patients with disorders of consciousness

Abstract

BACKGROUND: F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET has been validated as a diagnostic tool in this population, and allows identifying unresponsive patients with a capacity for consciousness. In parallel, the perturbational complexity index (PCI), a new measure based on the analysis of the electroencephalographic response to transcranial magnetic stimulation, has also been suggested as a tool to distinguish between unconscious and conscious states. The aim of the study was to cross-validate FDG-PET and PCI, and to identify signs of consciousness in otherwise unresponsive patients. METHODS: We jointly applied the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised, FDG-PET and PCI to assess 24 patients with non-acute disorders of consciousness or locked-in syndrome (13 male; 19-54 years old; 12 traumatic; 9 unresponsive wakefulness syndrome, 11 minimally conscious state; 2 emergence from the minimally conscious state, and 2 locked-in syndrome). RESULTS: FDG-PET and PCI provided congruent results in 22 patients, regardless of their behavioural diagnosis. Notably, FDG-PET and PCI revealed preserved metabolic rates and high complexity levels in four patients who were behaviourally unresponsive. CONCLUSION: We propose that jointly measuring the metabolic activity and the electrophysiological complexity of cortical circuits is a useful complement to the diagnosis and stratification of patients with disorders of consciousness.