A true indicator of a patient's state of consciousness, the Glasgow Coma Scale is closely correlated with the severity of a coma. This neurological scale, which is involved in the diagnosis of the patient, makes it possible to choose a strategy with a view to maintaining vital functions and predicting sequelae.
In 1974, Graham Teasdale and Bryan Jennett published the Glasgow Scale (or Glasgow Score). These two professors from the Glasgow Neurological Institute (Scotland) had developed this scale for head trauma . It is a reliable and rigorous method for assessing the depth and clinical duration of unconsciousness and coma.
This scale was developed from a database of all head trauma cases treated in Glasgow. The database in question also includes other cases observed in the Netherlands and the United States. Allowing accurate diagnosis and an evaluation of the sequelae, the scale also makes it possible in an emergency situation to adopt a strategy with a view to maintaining vital functions.
A publication from the Center hospitalier universitaire vaudois (CHUV), in Switzerland, explains that the Glasgow scale is based on three criteria. These are the patient's eye opening, the verbal response as well as the motor response. The evaluation allows you to define a score corresponding to several categories in the scale.
The Glasgow Scale has become an essential tool in the assessment of the state of consciousness of a patient who has suffered a head injury. However, this is no coincidence insofar as the counting of points is very relevant.
From 3 to 6, the patient is in condition of clinical death or in a deep coma . A score of 7 to 9 is relative to a heavy coma. A patient with a score of 10 to 14 is drowsy or in a mild coma. Finally, the value 15 expresses normal consciousness.
In 1982, a team of Belgian researchers led by Jacques D. Born developed the Glasgow-Liège Scale (GLS) ranging from 3 to 20. The objective ? Improve the classical Glasgow scale by associating brain stem reflexes , these being systematically sought on patients in deep coma.
In 2018, we mentioned a study on a technique full of promise. This aimed to determine with certainty whether a patient in a coma could wake up or not . The study involved 200 adult patients who had been in a coma for more than a week in 14 hospitals in Belgium, France and Italy. Moreover, the patients were in a coma for the same reason, namely cardiac arrest.
The researchers used a particular MRI technique to assess the movement of water present in the white matter of the brain , whose role is to connect neurons to each other. It turns out that by having measured the disorganization of this movement, the scientists were able to establish thresholds making it possible to know the chances of awakening of a patient after six months of coma.
