--emergency medicine puzzle: find the cause of coma or impaired consciousness --cohort of 938 patients with a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 10 or below --most common cause of unconsciousness: poisoning --poisoning: 38% of all cases and 80% in those under 40 years of age --over 60 years only 11% were poisoned --median GCS score on admission was identical (btw poison & non) --poisoned pts mortality rate: 2.8% (in hospital) --non-poisoned mort rate: 39% --2% have neurological sequelae at discharge --39% (of all) and 18% (under 40) have neuro sequelae of non-poisoned patients --352/938 were poisoned --586/938 not poisoned --of those 586 not poisoned: ----24% focal neurological lesion ----21% metabolic or diffuse cerebral disturbance ----12% epileptogenic ----1% psychogenic ----4% still unDXed at discharge --researcher: Forsberg --Emergency Medicine Journal 2009;26:100-102; doi:10.1136/emj.2007.054536 --article title: Coma and impaired consciousness in the emergency room: characteristics of poisoning versus other causes SOURCE: http://emj.bmj.com/cgi/content/short/26/2/79?rss=1 http://emj.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/26/2/100?ijkey=a9e45a3a31863cf5f848162a844b833e69ba95ff&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha