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Misdiagnosed Brazilian wakes from 23-year coma
[Iran Press TV Latest] A paralyzed Brazilian man has wakened up after 23 years of wrongly being diagnosed as being in a vegetative state. Rom Houben, now 46, was trapped in his own world, suffering from a condition known as locked-in syndrome, said Steven Laureys of the University of Liege. Locked-in Syndrome is a neurological condition in which the patient is aware of his/her environment but has minimal reflexive movements often limited to eye blinks. In Houben's case, however, the diagnosis was more difficult as he was partly paralyzed following a fatal car crash in 1983, unable to show a motor response. Using modern brain scanning technology, neurologist found that Houben's cerebral cortex, which was assumed to be in deep coma, had a near-normal function. "I shall never forget the day when they discovered what was truly wrong with me -- it was my second birth," Houbens told the German magazine Der Spiegel, communicating via a special keyboard. He added that he has been fully conscious and aware of everything around him the entire time but unable to response during the past 23 years. "Differentiating the vegetative from the minimally conscious state is often one of the most challenging tasks facing clinicians involved in the care of patients with disorders of consciousness," said Laureys. Laureys argued that new imaging technology will help physicians identify more individuals like Houbens, who have been misdiagnosed to be in a vegetative state. Posted by: Fred 2009-11-25 |
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