Brief Summaries of References to Hyperbaric Oxygenation of Anoxic Encephalopathy and Coma.

1. 17 cases of vegetative coma for 1 - 22 months. 40 - 120 exposures over 20 - 90 days. Glasgow Coma Scale improved in all. Complete recovery of 5.
2. Eltorai I, Montroy,R. Hyperbaraic Oxygen Therapy leading to recovery of a 6-week comatose patient afflicted by anoxic encephalopathy and post-traumatic edema. J. Hyperbaric Medicine 1991: (3) 189-198. 90 mins HBO od. After 24 sessions, started talking and ate meals. Gradually mobilised to a wheelchair.
3. Harch PG, et al. SPECT brain imaging and low pressure HBO in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic traumatic, ischaemic, hypoxic and anoxic encephalopathies. Undersea and Hyperbaric Med. 1994 (Supp) 4/5 showed improvement in focal cortical & deep grey matter deficits.
4. Shn-rong Z. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Coma - report of 336 Cases. In Proc XI Intnl Cong Hyperbaric Med. Best, Flagstaff. 1995; 279-285 HBO is effective in acute brain hypoxia and oedema and can hasten recovery of consciousness, including prolonged coma.
5. Neubauer RA. Gottlieb SF, Pevsner NH. Long-anoxic ischaemic encephalopathy: predictability of recovery. In Proc XII Intnl Cong Hyperbaric Med. Best, Flagstaff. 1996. (In press). 8 long-term patients with severe anoxic ischaemic encephalopathy between 3 months and 12 years. Improvement in all cases, both clinically and on SPECT scans. Until the introduction of SPECT scanning there has been no diagnostic technique providing evidence that any treatment would be effective.
6. Quinly C, Shaoji Y. Nursing of Brain-Stem injury with HBO. Ibid. 39 patients treated with HBO. Decreased mortality and increased awake rate.
7. Zhi Y, et al. Assessment of the efficacy of HBO in patients with a persistent vegetative state. Ibid. 8 patients in coma, longest 281 days prior to HBO. 20 - 86 daily sessions. All resumed consciousness. ----------- 414 cases reported, world wide, in the since 1987.