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Volume 330:1469-1475 May 26, 1994 Number 21 Next

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ABSTRACT

Background Karen Ann Quinlan had a cardiopulmonary arrest in 1975 and died 10 years later, having never regained consciousness. Her story prompted a national debate about the appropriateness of life-sustaining treatment in patients who are in a persistent vegetative state and led to the development of medicolegal guidelines for the care of such patients. This report describes the neuropathologic features of Quinlan's brain.

Methods The entire brain and spinal cord were systematically sampled for histologic examination. The brain stem and central cerebrum were embedded en bloc and serially sectioned. Three-dimensional computer reconstructions helped visualize the topographic features of the lesions.

Results Contrary to expectation, the most severe damage was not in the cerebral cortex but in the thalamus, and the brain stem was relatively intact. The neuropathological findings included extensive bilateral thalamic scarring, bilateral cortical scars primarily in the occipital pole and parasagittal parieto-occipital region, and bilateral damage to cerebellar and focal-basal-ganglia regions. The brain stem and basal forebrain and the hypothalamic components of the ascending arousal systems and brain-stem regions critical to cardiac and respiratory control were undamaged. The lesions were consistent with hypoxia-ischemia after the cardiopulmonary arrest.

Conclusions Although the neuropathological findings in the case of Karen Ann Quinlan were complex, the disproportionately severe damage in the thalamus as compared with the cerebral cortex supports the hypothesis that the thalamus is critical for cognition and awareness and may be less essential for arousal.

Source Information

From the Departments of Pathology (H.C.K.) and Neurology (H.C.K., A.P., P.D.), Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston; the Department of Neurology, New York University Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital, New York (J.K.); and the New Jersey Medical Examiner's Office and Edwin H. Albano Institute of Forensic Science, Newark (R.G.). Presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Neuropathologists, St. Louis, June 18-21, 1992.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Kinney at the Dept. of Pathology, Enders Bldg., Rm. 209, Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115.

Full Text of this Article

Related Letters:

The Brain of Karen Ann Quinlan
Havton L. A., Ohara P. T., Jellinger K.A., Jeret J. S., Kaehny W. D., Kinney H. C., Korein J.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1994; 331:1378-1380, Nov 17, 1994. Correspondence

The Persistent Vegetative State
Haig A. J., McQuillen M. P., Whyte J., Zasler N. D., Giacino J., Sandel M. E., Ashwal S., Cranford R.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1994; 331:1380-1381, Nov 17, 1994. Correspondence

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