Pediatric coma: prognosis and outcome.

A review of 40 previously comatose children identified significant degrees of disability 10 months after the insult. Of all the antecedent factors assessed, duration of coma correlated most highly with outcome, especially in relation to language and intellectual spheres. The literature reveals heterogeneous approaches to the study of sequelae of pediatric coma, and thus disparate results: a more uniform approach is needed to the study of the nature and prognosis of pediatric coma.