Locked-in syndrome

Locked-in syndrome
Other namesCerebromedullospinal disconnection,[1] de-efferented state, pseudocoma,[2] ventral pontine syndrome
Locked-in syndrome can be caused by a stroke at the level of the basilar artery denying blood to the pons, among other causes.
SpecialtyNeurology, Psychiatry

Locked-in syndrome (LIS), also known as pseudocoma, is a condition in which a patient is aware but cannot move or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body except for vertical eye movements and blinking.[3] The individual is conscious and sufficiently intact cognitively to be able to communicate with eye movements.[4] Electroencephalography results are normal in locked-in syndrome. Total locked-in syndrome, or completely locked-in state (CLIS), is a version of locked-in syndrome wherein the eyes are paralyzed as well.[5] Fred Plum and Jerome B. Posner coined the term for this disorder in 1966.[6][7]

  1. ^ Nordgren RE, Markesbery WR, Fukuda K, Reeves AG (1971). "Seven cases of cerebromedullospinal disconnection: the "locked-in" syndrome". Neurology. 21 (11): 1140–8. doi:10.1212/wnl.21.11.1140. PMID 5166219. S2CID 32398246.
  2. ^ Flügel KA, Fuchs HH, Druschky KF (1977). "The "locked-in" syndrome: pseudocoma in thrombosis of the basilar artery (author's trans.)". Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift (in German). 102 (13): 465–70. doi:10.1055/s-0028-1104912. PMID 844425.
  3. ^ Das J, Anosike K, Asuncion RM (2022). "Locked-in Syndrome". National Center for Biotechnology Information. PMID 32644452. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  4. ^ Duffy J. motor speech disorders substrates, differential diagnosis, and management. Elsevier. p. 295.
  5. ^ Bauer, G., Gerstenbrand, F., Rumpl, E. (1979). "Varieties of the locked-in syndrome". Journal of Neurology. 221 (2): 77–91. doi:10.1007/BF00313105. PMID 92545. S2CID 10984425.
  6. ^ Agranoff AB. "Stroke Motor Impairment". eMedicine. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
  7. ^ Plum F, Posner JB (1966), The diagnosis of stupor and coma, Philadelphia, PA, USA: FA Davis, 197 pp.