The complete apallic syndrome--a case report.

In six patients with apallic syndrome the EEG was isoelectric, although the patients were breathing spontaneously and vegetative functions remained stable for a long period of time. No cortical somatosensory evoked potentials could be recorded in four of the patients examined. Cranial CT performed in three patients revealed extensive hypodensity of the cortex, whereas the brain stem showed no major damage. This syndrome is labelled a "complete apallic syndrome". None of our patients, and none of the 23 patients described in the literature, recovered.