Long-term recovery profile of patients with severe disability or in vegetative states following severe primary intracerebral hemorrhage

Abstract Purpose We conducted a single-center retrospective review to investigate the long-term recovery of patients who were severely disabled or vegetative secondary to primary intracerebral hemorrhage upon discharge from hospital from January 2009 to November 2013. Methods Patients were categorized into two groups based on their Glasgow outcome scale (GOS) scores at discharge, namely vegetative state (GOS 2; n  = 91) and severely disabled (GOS 3; n  = 278). Long-term outcomes at three years post discharge were defined as death, stable, deterioration and improvement from discharge to follow-up. Results Lower mortality (29% versus 69%) and higher neurological improvement rates at three years (33% versus 10%) were observed in the SD compared to VS group (both p  = .0001). Age was a significant predictor of survival in the VS group ( p  = .03) and the SD group ( p  = .012). Age was also the only predictor of neurological improvement in the SD group (p = .01). Conclusions Neurological status at discharge from hospital was not truly indicative of long-term prognosis for patients who were severely disabled or vegetative. Patients in both groups can potentially improve in the long term and may benefit from prolonged rehabilitation programmes to maximize their recovery potential.