Spindle Coma in the Intensive Care Unit: Different Aetiologies – Different Outcomes

Authors

• Ana Catarina Emidio Internal Medicine Department, Hospital de São Bernardo, Centro Hospitalar de Setúbal, Portugal
• Rita Faria Intensive Medicine Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Loures, Portugal
• Patricia Patricio Intensive Medicine Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Loures, Portugal
• Nuno Canas Neurophysiology laboratory, Neurology Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Loures, Portugal
• António Messias Intensive Medicine Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Loures, Portugal
• Carlos Meneses-Oliveira Intensive Medicine Department, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Loures, Portugal

anaemidio3@hotmail.com

Keywords

Abstract

Spindle coma is an electroclinical entity that has been used to describe an EEG pattern of “sleep-like” activity in comatose patients. Although it has been associated with favourable prognosis, its aetiology is one of the key factors for patient outcome. The authors present three cases of spindle coma with different aetiologies (amitriptyline overdose, pontine myelinolysis and hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy) that culminated in different outcomes.