News | Sunday, 15 February 2009

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What is persistent vegetative state?

Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) is the condition in which Eluana Englaro found herself after the car crash, which results in the death of the upper part of the brain responsible for sensation, motor function and association or thinking.
“In effect the patient cannot receive any sensations or feel anything, or move anything or even think. The only part of the brain that is still functioning is the so-called brain stem responsible for our primitive animalistic reflexes such as the beating of the heart and respiration. To all intents and purposes the individual being becomes a vegetable,” says Michael Asciak, chairman of the National Bioethics Committee.
Individuals in PVS are seldom on any life-sustaining equipment other than a feeding tube. Generally, adults have a 50% chance and children a 60% chance of recovering consciousness from a PVS within the first 6 months. After a year, the chances that a PVS patient will regain consciousness are extremely low and the few patients who do recover consciousness experience significant disability.

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