The Apallic Syndrome (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9783642811531)

The subject of the apallic syndrome is one which has long been familiar to me, although I have not personally studied it as deeply as I would have wished. I became acquainted with this syndrome long before the last war, when my neurosurgical colleague Hugh Cairns (1952), made his pioneer contribution under the term "akinetic mutism" . This was an ar- resting title, but it was one which did not altogether satisfy some of his colleagues, includ- ing myself. We found it difficult to suggest an alternative. That is one reason why I wel- come the expression "apallic syndrome" . Forensic practice has forced me from time to time to consider rather more deeply this distressing syndrome, and to try and marshal my ideas in a form which would satisfy my colleagues in the legal profession. More than once I have been instructed to make a medico- legal assessment of these unfortunate patients. The points which have concerned my lawyer friends have not been matters of diagnosis, or of morbid anatomy, or of etiology. The fac- tual problem which has been put before me was to make some approximate assessment as to the expectation of life. Vague guess-work is unacceptable in such circumstances. What the lawyers require is a precise and dogmatic answer.

Author: E. Rothemund
ISBN-10: 3642811531
ISBN-13: 9783642811531
Publisher: Springer
Language: English
Published: 01/19/2012
Pages: 259
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.61h x 6.69w x 0.60d