Possible Relationships of Anesthetic Coma and Pathological Disorders of Consciousness

Nicholas D. Schiff and Fred Plum

Contemporary Clinical Neuroscience: Neural Mechanisms of Anesthesia Edited by Josph F. Antognini et al. Humana Press (2002)

Summary

This chapter reviews pathological cuases of coma and related global disorders of consciousness. We discuss these neurological disorders in the context of how contributions of subcortical arousal and gating systems relate to normal conscious states. We then briefly explore the possible overlap of mechanisms of different forms of anesthesia as compared to the reviewed pathological states.