This serial is firmly established as an extensive documentation of the advances in contemporary brain research. Each volume presents authoritative reviews and original articles by invited specialists.This volume concentrates on coma and consciousness science. presenting articles from leading figures in the area on the clinical and ethical implications of work in this field. The book provides a thorough review of the various aspects of coma science from a review of the concepts, questioning of recent advances, case studies, through to where research in the field is heading. - Provides the reader with a unique overview of all aspects of new advances in coma science - Broad focus with contributions by the top scientists worldwide in the respective disciplines
The Comatose Patient, Second Edition, is a critical historical overview of the concepts of consciousness and unconsciousness, covering all aspects of coma within 100 detailed case vignettes. This comprehensive text includes principles of neurologic examination of comatose patients as well as instruction of the FOUR Score coma scale, and also discusses landmark legal cases and ethical problems. As the Chair of Division of Critical Care Neurology at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Wijdicks uses his extensive knowledge to discuss a new practical multistep approach to the diagnosis of the comatose patient. Additionally, this edition includes extensive coverage of the interpretation of neuroimaging and its role in daily practice and decision making, as well as management in the emergency room and ICU. Dr. Wijdicks details long-term supportive care and an appropriate approach to communication with family members about end-of-life decision making. In addition, video clips on neurologic examination and neurologic manifestations seen in comatose patients can be found here: http://oxfordmedicine.com/comatosepatient2e. All video recordings from the first edition have been reformatted and remastered for optimal use, and several more video clips of patients have also been included.
Clifford B. Saper, Chair of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, and Nicholas D. Schiff of Weill Medical College in NY join the original authors to thoroughly update this seminal text with over 90% new material. the goal of the new edition is to provide a clinically slanted volume that will help the reader understand and diagnose severe brain dysfunction both as it exists and as it evolves in the seriously ill. the book remains a treatise on pathophysiology because recent imaging, electrophysiologic, and biochemical technologies (discussed in the book) are by themselves insufficient substitute
The second edition of The Neurology of Consciousness is a comprehensive update of this ground-breaking work on human consciousness, the first book in this area to summarize the neuroanatomical and functional underpinnings of consciousness by emphasizing a lesional approach offered by the study of neurological patients. Since the publication of the first edition in 2009, new methodologies have made consciousness much more accessible scientifically, and, in particular, the study of disorders, disruptions, and disturbances of consciousness has added tremendously to our understanding of the biological basis of human consciousness. The publication of a new edition is both critical and timely for continued understanding of the field of consciousness. In this critical and timely update, revised and new contributions by internationally renowned researchers—edited by the leaders in the field of consciousness research—provide a unique and comprehensive focus on human consciousness. The new edition of The Neurobiology of Consciousness will continue to be an indispensable resource for researchers and students working on the cognitive neuroscience of consciousness and related disorders, as well as for neuroscientists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and neurologists contemplating consciousness as one of the philosophical, ethical, sociological, political, and religious questions of our time. - New chapters on the neuroanatomical basis of consciousness and short-term memory, and expanded coverage of comas and neuroethics, including the ethics of brain death - The first comprehensive, authoritative collection to describe disorders of consciousness and how they are used to study and understand the neural correlates of conscious perception in humans. - Includes both revised and new chapters from the top international researchers in the field, including Christof Koch, Marcus Raichle, Nicholas Schiff, Joseph Fins, and Michael Gazzaniga
Plum and Posner's Diagnosis and Treatment of Stupor and Coma, 5th edition provides a comprehensive overview of the theory behind regulation of consciousness in humans, the mechanisms of loss of consciousness clinically, and the examination and diagnosis of the cause of loss of consciousness in patients. New sections provide the latest information on the treatment of comatose patients, brain death, recovery from structural coma, and the ethics of dealing with comatose patients.
A poetic exploration of trauma and renewal from the last avant-garde visionary of the twentieth century. Long ago, in childhood, when Summer reverberates and feels and throbs all over, it begins to circumscribe my body along with my self, and my body gives it shape in turn: the “joy” of living, of experiencing, of already foreseeing dismembers it, this entire body explodes, neurons rush toward what attracts them, zones of sensation break off almost in blocks that come to rest at the four corners of the landscape, at the four corners of Creation.—from Coma The novelist and playwright Pierre Guyotat has been called the last great avant-garde visionary of the twentieth century, and the near-cult status of his work—because of its extreme linguistic innovation and its provocative violence—has made him one of the most influential of French writers today. He has been hailed as the true literary heir to Lautréamont and Arthur Rimbaud, and his “inhuman” works have been mentioned in the same breath as those by Georges Bataille and Antonin Artaud. Winner of the 2006 prix Décembre, Coma is the deeply moving, vivid portrayal of the artistic and spiritual crisis that wracked Guyotat in the 1980s when he reached the physical limits of his search for a new language, entered a mental clinic, and fell into a coma brought on by self-imposed starvation. A poetic, cruelly lucid account, Coma links Guyotat's illness and loss of subjectivity to a broader concern for the slow, progressive regeneration of humanity. Written in what the author himself has called a “normalized writing,” this book visits a lifetime of moments that have in common the force of amazement, brilliance, and a flash of life. Grounded in experiences from the author's childhood and his family's role in the French Resistance, Coma is a tale of initiation that provides an invaluable key to interpreting Guyotat's work, past and future.
A Quick Reference Text! Easy to read and practical in design, Neurocritical Care is the book specialists will turn to for quick reference. It concentrates on management problems, from diagnostic procedures to therapeutic strategies. Exact descriptions are given for treatment procedures, and it is easy to find the appropriate treatment for a given patient. International Expertise! More than 100 authors from North America have contributed to the book. The different strategies used on either side of the Atlantic have been described, the sections on neuroimaging have been reviewed by a neuroradiologist. Comprehensive in Scope! Both frequent and rare neurological diseases that may require critical care treatment and subjects of more general interest such as monitoring strategies, ethical problems, brain death and neurological disorders in internal medicine have been covered. Pathophysiology is also discussed, insomuch as it is important for understanding the treatment strategies.
In spite of medical advances and the increasing number of severely brain-injured patients, the assessment and treatment of patients recovering from coma remain challenging. For over 10 years now, the Coma Science Group has been working on the scientific exploration of disorders of consciousness, with both scientific and clinical research agendas. This book is the result of all this work. The aim is to offer both clinicians and researchers an opportunity to acquire expertise in a field which is constantly developing. Besides diagnostic, prognostic and ethical issues, this book includes well-established findings on assessment techniques (i.e., behavioral scales, electrophysiological explorations and structural/functional neuroimaging) and treatment procedures, but also techniques under development (i.e., the use of classifiers, brain-computer interfaces, transcranial magnetic stimulation or deep brain stimulation) which will stimulate ideas for future research. The Coma Science Group presents here a comprehensive book for readers, regardless of whether they are already familiar with the difficult but exciting field of disorders of consciousness.
