Journal
BRAIN STIMULATION
Volume 11, Issue 5, Pages 982-990Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2018.04.021
Keywords
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS); Consciousness; Minimally conscious state; Traumatic brain injury
Categories
Funding
- University and University Hospital of Liege (Belgium)
- Belgian National Funds for Scientific Research (FRS-FNRS)
- Human Brain Project [EU-H2020-fetflagshiphbp-sga1-ga720270]
- Luminous project [EU-H2020-fetopenga686764]
- Center-TBI project
- James McDonnell Foundation
- European Space Agency
- Belspo
- Fondazione Europea di Ricerca Biomedica
- BIAL Foundation
- Wallonia Brussels Federation Concerted Research Action
- Cefaly Technology and Mind Science Foundation
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Background: Patients with chronic disorders of consciousness face a significant lack of treatment options. Objective: We aimed at investigating the feasibility and the behavioral effects of home-based transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), applied by relatives or caregivers, in chronic patients in minimally conscious state (MCS). Methods: Each participant received, in a randomized order, 20 sessions of active and 20 sessions of sham tDCS applied over the prefrontal cortex for 4 weeks; separated by 8 weeks of washout. Level of consciousness was assessed using the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised before the first stimulation (baseline), at the end of the 20 tDCS sessions (direct effects) and 8 weeks after the end of each stimulation period (long-term effects). Reported adverse events and data relative to the adherence (i.e., amount of sessions effectively received) were collected as well. Results: Twenty-seven patients completed the study and 22 patients received at least 80% of the stimulation sessions. All patients tolerated tDCS well, no severe adverse events were noticed after real stimulation and the overall adherence (i.e., total duration of stimulation) was good. A moderate effect size (0.47 and 0.53, for modified intention to treat and per protocol analysis, respectively) was observed at the end of the 4 weeks of tDCS in favor of the active treatment. Conclusions: We demonstrated that home-based tDCS can be used adequately outside a research facility or hospital by patients' relatives or caregivers. In addition, 4 weeks of tDCS moderately improved the recovery of signs of consciousness in chronic MCS patients. (c) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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