[Clinical test of the Cerebral Function Monitor in intensive care]

Due to its simplicity, and because of the lack of an instrument designed for the routine monitoring of cerebral function in intensive care, the M.C.F. was used on patients presenting with disorders of consciousness resulting from various causes, including: exogenous poisoning; cranial trauma; cerebral anoxia. 15 examples are thus presented to illustrate the different clinical states. This apparatus revealed itself to be of particular use in the instantaneous evaluation of a patient's overall cerebral activity, as well as in the assessment of the patient's clinical prognosis. The slow speed of the trace enabled us to make continual recordings lasting several weeks. It was thus possible to compare immediately the levels of the disease. Furthermore, all variations--even of a transitory nature--of the level and fluctuations of this activity could be detected at all times. The M.C.F., therefore, would seem to be a very useful aid--perhaps indispensable--as a monitor of the comatose patient in an Intensive Care Unit.