Chronic disorders of consciousness: terminology and diagnostic criteria. The results of the first meeting of the Russian Working Group for Chronic Disorders of Consciousness

Abstract

Introduction. To date, patients with chronic disorders of consciousness (CDC) represent a serious problem from the medical, social, and economic points of view. Because of the relatively small incidence of this condition, accumulation of the sufficient experience in its diagnosis and treatment remains a complex task, while the lack of a unified approach among Russian specialists to classification of the CDC makes it even harder to solve. At the same time, there are widely used terms overseas that are accepted by the medical community and used in current recommendations. Aim. Specialists of the Federal State Funded Research Institution, Research Centre of Neurology, have put forward an initiative to create a Russian Working Group for Chronic Disorders of Consciousness, to discuss and approve unified Russian terminology for CDC and criteria for classifying CDC, and to then develop clinical recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with CDC. Results. The first roundtable meeting on the issues related to CDC took place at the ХI Russian Congress of Neurologists in June 2019. The attendees included staff members from the FSFRI Research Centre of Neurology, FSFRI Federal Research and Clinical Centre of Intensive Care Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine, the Polenov Neurosurgical Institute - Branch of the FSFI Almazov National Medical Research Centre, FSFEI HE Ural State Medical University, SFI Saint PetersburgI.I.Dzhanelidze Research InstituteofEmergency Medicine, FSAEI HE Pirogov RussianNationalResearch Medical University, SFHI Research Institute of Emergency Paediatric Surgery and Traumatology of the Moscow Department of Health, and the SFHI N.I. Sklifosovsky Research Institute of Emergency Medicine of the Moscow Department of Health. Based on the results of the meeting and voting, a list of terms was composed to describe CDC and the corresponding diagnostic criteria were approved. The roundtable discussion also included the working groups future plans, and the development of a plan for Russian recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of the CDC. Conclusion. The terms and criteria mentioned in the article are recommended for use in clinical practice and research in Russia, for patients with CDC.

Keywords

• chronic disorders of consciousness
• vegetative state
• minimally conscious state
• unresponsive wakefulness syndrome
• diagnostic criteria