Isr Med Assoc J
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Nowadays more and more patients survive severe brain injury, whether due to traumatic or other causes, owing to the technological advances in medicine. Added to this is a better understanding of pathophysiologic processes, the quality and availability of emergency medicine, and increased medical knowledge in the field. ⋯ These changes in the levels of consciousness and function can also occur after very long periods of vegetative state. In our personal experience in the hospital, in 2004, 81% of patients in a post-traumatic vegetative state recovered some level of consciousness.