{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]],"date-time":"2026-08-14T04:30:58Z","timestamp":1786681858619,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]],"date-time":"2026-08-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786665600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Neurol."],"abstract":"\n Objective<\/jats:title>\n To evaluate long-term changes in consciousness and age-related recovery patterns in patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness (pDoC) following spinal cord stimulation (stSCS), and to explore whether early postoperative neurological improvement is associated with long-term outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n This retrospective study included 30 patients with pDoC who underwent stSCS and were followed for 24\u202fmonths. Consciousness was assessed using the Coma Recovery Scale\u2013Revised (CRS-R) at baseline, 3\u202fdays, 14\u202fdays, 12\u202fmonths, and 24\u202fmonths. Patients were stratified into younger (\u226450\u202fyears) and older (&gt;50\u202fyears) groups. Longitudinal changes in CRS-R scores were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models, and linear regression was performed to evaluate the association between early neurological improvement at 14\u202fdays and 12-month outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n CRS-R scores progressively increased during the 24-month follow-up, with significantly higher scores at 12\u202fmonths (10.47\u202f\u00b1\u202f6.52) and 24\u202fmonths (11.84\u202f\u00b1\u202f6.38) compared with baseline (6.17\u202f\u00b1\u202f2.67, both\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f&lt;\u202f0.001). Analysis of CRS-R changes from baseline suggested different recovery patterns between age groups. Younger patients showed earlier within-group improvement, although overall recovery trajectories and long-term outcomes were comparable between age groups. However, no significant differences in overall CRS-R improvement were observed between the two groups. The distribution of clinical consciousness states was also comparable between groups during follow-up. Early improvement at 14\u202fdays was significantly associated with 12-month CRS-R scores in both the Younger Group (R\n 2<\/jats:sup>\n \u202f=\u202f0.536,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f=\u202f0.0019) and the Older Group (R\n 2<\/jats:sup>\n \u202f=\u202f0.810,\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u202f&lt;\u202f0.0001).\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n Patients with pDoC showed sustained CRS-R improvement after stSCS during long-term follow-up. Age appeared to influence the pattern of recovery, with younger patients showing earlier improvement, although overall long-term outcomes were comparable between age groups. Early improvement was associated with better long-term outcomes, suggesting potential prognostic value. The specific contribution of stSCS requires further validation in prospective controlled studies.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fneur.2026.1886072","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]],"date-time":"2026-08-14T04:23:27Z","timestamp":1786681407000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Long-term outcomes and age-dependent recovery trajectories following short-term spinal cord stimulation in patients with disorders of consciousness"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Yuye","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Beijing Neurosurgical Institute","place":["Beijing, China"]},{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chen","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaoli","family":"Geng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xueling","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jianghong","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"172","DOI":"10.1016\/j.conb.2014.09.008","article-title":"Neuromodulation of the conscious state following severe brain injuries","volume":"29","author":"Fridman","year":"2014","journal-title":"Curr Opin Neurobiol"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"135","DOI":"10.1038\/s41582-020-00428-x","article-title":"Recovery from disorders of consciousness: mechanisms, prognosis and emerging therapies","volume":"17","author":"Brian","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nat Rev Neurol"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"286","DOI":"10.1016\/S1474-4422(18)30469-1","article-title":"Traumatic brain injury in China","volume":"18","author":"Ji-Yao","year":"2019","journal-title":"Lancet 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