Present status of studies on persistent vegetative state after traumatic brain injury

The article deals with diagnosis ,etiological factor ,neuropathology,treatment and prognosis of persistent vegetative state (PVS) patients. There are no uniform standard for diagnosis of PVS. PVS mainly caused by traumatic brain injury. The main neuropathology of PVS is diffuse axonal injury,diffuse cortical contusions and selective thalamic lesion. Positron emission tomography(PET) may be useful for predicting the possibility of recovery from PVS. There are no special useful treatment for PVS and the outcome of PVS after traumatic brain injury is better than other PVS.