Global Functional Disconnections in Post-anoxic Coma Patient

Disorders of consciousness have been related to different disconnection patterns as assessed by neuroimaging tools such as PET or fMRI. In this report, we use resting-state functional MRI acquisition and a functional connectivity analysis by graph of brain networks, to investigate the global residual connection pattern in a patient with consciousness disorders following post-anoxic injury. We then compare this pattern with those of a group of twenty controls. We observed that the patient's graph presents multiple disconnections in primary areas and in high-order associative areas. This pattern is consistent with a vegetative state, as reported by other groups. Further, the informations conveyed by this approach are consistent with those provided by PET, fMRI and EP. This new approach presents a very strong potential for diagnosis for consciousness disorder patients since it is applicable very early after the insult.