title: Assessment of localisation to auditory stimulation in post-comatose states: use the patient's own name.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  At present, there is no consensus on how to clinically assess localisation to sound in patients recovering from coma. We here studied auditory localisation using the patient's own name as compared to a meaningless sound (i.e., ringing bell).
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-six post-comatose patients diagnosed with a vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome or a minimally conscious state were prospectively included. Localisation of auditory stimulation (i.e., head or eyes orientation toward the sound) was assessed using the patient's own name as compared to a ringing bell. Statistical analyses used binomial testing with bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons.
  
  
  RESULTS
  37 (43%) out of the 86 studied patients showed localisation to auditory stimulation. More patients (n=34, 40%) oriented the head or eyes to their own name as compared to sound (n=20, 23%; p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  When assessing auditory function in disorders of consciousness, using the patient's own name is here shown to be more suitable to elicit a response as compared to neutral sound.
authors.affiliation: International Vegetative State and Consciousness Science Institute, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Lijuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Olivia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gosseries
authors.forename: Limei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ying
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Hongxing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Minhui
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schnakers
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Laureys
authors.forename: Haibo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Di
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D000328:Adult; D003128:Coma / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009275:Names; D018458:Persistent Vegetative State / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D013017:Sound Localization / Q000502:physiology*