A CONSIDERATION OF THE RELATIVE FREQUENCY OF THE VARIOUS FORMS OF COMA

Abstract

Not only has the differential diagnosis of the various types of coma occupied a conspicuous place in routine medical instruction for a long period, but this topic year after year is the subject of contributions to medical literature so numerous that many pages would be required to enumerate the references to articles quite generally accessible. One phase of these many considerations has been quite generally ignored, the relative frequency with which the different causes of coma bring it about. With this in mind, the following study of the clinical and anatomic conditions attending 200 deaths in coma or semi-consciousness has been made.¹It is believed that various factors, such as the degree of medical skill, methods of hospital practice, etc., pertaining to the clinical examinations, as well as to the diagnoses, may not be very unlike those existing in hospitals of other large communities like Chicago receiving a great