There are three main causes of PVS (persistent vegetative state): # Acute traumatic brain injury # Non-traumatic: neurodegenerative disorder or metabolic disorder of the brain # Severe congenital abnormality of the central nervous system Potential causes of PVS are: * Bacterial, viral, or fungal infection, including meningitis * Increased intracranial pressure, such as a tumor or abscess * Vascular pressure which causes intracranial hemorrhaging or stroke * Hypoxic ischemic injury (hypotension, cardiac arrest, arrhythmia, near-drowning) * Toxins such as uremia, ethanol, atropine, opiates, lead, dimethylmercury, endrin, parathion, and colloidal silver * Physical trauma: Concussion, contusion, etc * Seizure, both nonconvulsive status epilepticus and postconvulsive state (postictal state) * Electrolyte imbalance, which involves hyponatremia, hypernatremia, hypomagnesemia, hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, hypercalcemia, and hypocalcemia * Postinfectious: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) * Endocrine disorders such as adrenal insufficiency and thyroid disorders * Degenerative and metabolic diseases including urea cycle disorders, Reye syndrome, and mitochondrial disease * Systemic infection and sepsis * Hepatic encephalopathy In addition, these authors claim that doctors sometimes use the mnemonic device AEIOU-TIPS to recall portions of the differential diagnosis: Alcohol ingestion and acidosis, Epilepsy and encephalopathy, Infection, Opiates, Uremia, Trauma, Insulin overdose or inflammatory disorders, Poisoning and psychogenic causes, and Shock.
complications of Coma
complications of Stroke
complications of Heat stroke
complications of Concussion
symptom of Intracerebral hemorrhage
medical cause of General paresis of the insane
complications of Sepsis
medical cause of Cardiac arrest