Five-year follow-up study of patients with persistent vegetative state.

One hundred and ten patients with persistent vegetative state, were followed up for a period of five years from 1973 to 1978. Seventy-three per cent of the patients died during the period while about 10% of them recovered partially from the vegetative state. Among the recovered patients, only three became able to communicate, but two of these are not independent for their daily activites. Reactivity and clinical symptoms of 30 survivors were examined, but no great changes occurred during the last two years of the study.