COMA

SUMMARY

1. Both the reticular activating system (RAS) and the cerebral cortex must be working to sustain normal consciousness.

2. Thus, coma can be caused by either a decrease in the activity of the RAS or pathology of bilateral cerebral hemispheres.

3. Plum and Posner classified the causes of coma in the following ways: supratentorial, infratentorial, metabolic, diffuse, multifactorial.

Reference(s)

Plum, F. and Posner, J., 2019. Plum and Posner's diagnosis and treatment of stupor and coma. New York: Oxford University Press.

Wilkinson, I., Furmedge, D. and Sinharay, R. (2017). Oxford handbook of clinical medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Get it on Amazon.
Feather, A., Randall, D. and Waterhouse, M. (2020). Kumar And Clark’s Clinical Medicine. 10th ed. S.L.: Elsevier Health Sciences. Get it on Amazon.
Hannaman, R. A., Bullock, L., Hatchell, C. A., & Yoffe, M. (2016). Internal medicine review core curriculum, 2017-2018. CO Springs, CO: MedStudy.
Therapeutic Guidelines. Melbourne: Therapeutic Guidelines Limited. https://www.tg.org.au [Accessed 2021].