COgnitive REhabilitation in Pediatric Patients with ABI, from Vegetative State to Functional Recovery

Acquired brain injuries (ABI) represent one of the most important cause of disability and mortality during the pediatric age, also in the western Countries. The important medical progress of the last decade has increased the percentages of survivals, also in patients with the most severe clinical pictures. On the other hand, a brain injury reported in the first years of life presents with a more dramatic impact on cognitive and neurological development of patients and it may significantly interfere with adjustment, vocational perspectives and quality of life. Recent studies suggest that a brain damage at an early stage of development is related to more persistent sequelae in comparison with a comparable lesion reported by an adult patient, because of the neurological immaturity of the central nervous system at the moment of the insult. Furthermore, in most cases, a brain injury is related not only to motor and sensory deficits but also to significant behavioral and cognitive problems, that may occur immediately after the acute phase and persist or worsen over the years.