Detection of visual pursuit in patients in minimally conscious state: a matter of stimuli and visual plane?

The aim of this study was to determine whether the assessment of pursuit eye movements in patients in minimally conscious state (MCS) is influenced by the choice of the visual stimulus (study 1) and by the moving plane (study 2).

Patients with MCS (MCS- and MCS+) in the acute (<1 month post-injury) or chronic (>1 month) setting were assessed. The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) procedure was used to test visual pursuit of a moving mirror, object and person (study 1, n = 88) and to test vertical and horizontal visual tracking (study 2, n = 94).

Study 1: Patients with visual pursuit tracked preferentially the moving mirror over the moving person or object. Study 2: Patients displaying visual pursuit, especially in MCS- and in chronic setting, preferentially tracked on the horizontal rather than the vertical plane.

The findings confirm the importance of using a mirror to assess visual pursuit in patients in MCS and of initiating testing using the horizontal plane, specifically in patients in MCS- and those in chronic setting. Assessment should then be done on the vertical plane if visual pursuit is not detected on the horizontal plane.