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Open Access 01-12-2020 | Apallic Syndrome | Research article

The misdiagnosis of prolonged disorders of consciousness by a clinical consensus compared with repeated coma-recovery scale-revised assessment

Authors: Jing Wang, Xiaohua Hu, Zhouyao Hu, Ziwei Sun, Steven Laureys, Haibo Di

Published in: BMC Neurology | Issue 1/2020

Abstract

Background

Previous studies have shown that a single Coma-Recovery Scale-Revision (CRS-R) assessment can identify high rates of misdiagnosis by clinical consensus. The aim of this study was to investigate the proportion of misdiagnosis by clinical consensus compared to repeated behavior-scale assessments in patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness (DOC).

Methods

Patients with prolonged DOC during hospitalization were screened by clinicians, and the clinicians formed a clinical-consensus diagnosis. Trained professionals used the CRS-R to evaluate the consciousness levels of the enrolled patients repeatedly (≥5 times) within a week. Based on the repeated evaluation results, the enrolled patients with prolonged DOC were divided into unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS), minimally conscious state (MCS), and emergence from MCS (EMCS). Finally, the relationship between the results of the CRS-R and the clinical consensus were analyzed.

Results

In this study, 137 patients with a clinical-consensus diagnosis of prolonged DOC were enrolled. It was found that 24.7% of patients with clinical UWS were actually in MCS after a single CRS-R behavior evaluation, while the repeated CRS-R evaluation results showed that the proportion of misdiagnosis of MCS was 38.2%. A total of 16.7% of EMCS patients were misdiagnosed with clinical MCS, and 1.1% of EMCS patients were misdiagnosed with clinical UWS.

Conclusions

The rate of the misdiagnosis by clinical consensus is still relatively high. Therefore, clinicians should be aware of the importance of the bedside CRS-R behavior assessment and should apply the CRS-R tool in daily procedures.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04139239; Registered 24 October 2019 - Retrospectively registered.

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Title: The misdiagnosis of prolonged disorders of consciousness by a clinical consensus compared with repeated coma-recovery scale-revised assessment
Authors: Jing Wang
Xiaohua Hu
Zhouyao Hu
Ziwei Sun
Steven Laureys
Haibo Di
Publication date: 01-12-2020
Publisher: BioMed Central
Keywords: Apallic Syndrome
Coma
Published in: BMC Neurology / Issue 1/2020
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2377
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-020-01924-9

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

The misdiagnosis of prolonged disorders of consciousness by a clinical consensus compared with repeated coma-recovery scale-revised assessment

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Trial registration

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Trial registration

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