PVS

Medical abbreviation · Neurology

PVS stands for Persistent vegetative state, a neurology abbreviation.

Condition after severe brain injury in which a person has sleep-wake cycles and opens their eyes but shows no awareness of self or surroundings, lasting more than about a month. It differs from coma, in which eyes stay closed, and from brain death.

Example: Six months after anoxic injury, still no purposeful responses: PVS, ethics consult with family.

Usage notes

A 1994 task force defined "permanent" vegetative state after 3 months for nontraumatic and 12 months for traumatic injury, but the 2018 American Academy of Neurology guideline replaced "permanent" with "chronic" because some patients recover later. Many experts prefer "unresponsive wakefulness syndrome," proposed in 2010. Legal cases such as those of Karen Ann Quinlan and Terri Schiavo shaped US end-of-life law.

Related abbreviations

More neurology abbreviations

• PNES – Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures
• PPA – Primary progressive aphasia
• PPMS – Primary progressive multiple sclerosis
• PRES – Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome
• PSP – Progressive supranuclear palsy
• PTC – Pseudotumor cerebri
• RBD – REM sleep behavior disorder
• RCVS – Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome
• RLS – Restless legs syndrome
• RRMS – Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
• SAH – Subarachnoid hemorrhage
• SCI – Spinal cord injury

See all 131 neurology abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.

This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.