[The evaluation of a newborn in a coma]

Coma is differentiated from sleep by the absence of a normal arousal response and from death by the presence of heart beats and the absence of brain death criteria. Most causes of coma are readily diagnosed and treated. Others require a test whose results are not immediately available, transportation or a risky procedure and empirical treatment has to be considered. In addition to treating the cause of coma, treatment of the systemic and neurological causes of secondary brain damage is paramount.