Well I'm not a physician, BUT I have heard the eminent Dr. Hammesfahr and several other highly respected neurologists say that CT scans are too "fuzzy" to be used for a definitive diagnosis of this condition.
MRIs and PET scans, according to these experts, are much clearer and are state-of-the-art.
Michael Schiavo has refused to let Terri have either an MRI or a PET scan.
This is my last comment until after the funeral.
Suppose that you got what you refer to as a "definitive diagnosis" of encephalomalacia, hydrocephalus ex vacuo, and persistent vegetative state?
I mean, just suppose.
Would you say it was all right for TS to be killed?
If not, what do you care about what scans have been done, or not done?
Even though many people would love to pin this on the evil Mr. Schiavo, it's not quite as simple as that.
An MRI was never recommended because, in this case and other patients in a permanent vegetative state, the CT scans were more than adequate to demonstrate the extremely severe atrophy of the cerebral hemispheres, and an MRI would add nothing of significance to what we see on the CT scans. Plus the MRI is contraindicated because of the intrathalamic stimulators implanted in Terri's brain. A PET scan was never done in this case because it was never needed. The classic clinical signs on examination, the CT scans, and the flat EEG's were more than adequate to diagnose PVS to the highest degree of medical certainty, along with the credible testimony of the three neurologists at the longest evidentiary hearing in American law, whose opinions were strongly affirmed by the trial court judge and three appeal court judges. Please see Judge Greer's opinions on the credibility of the experts testifying on behalf of the Schindler family.
In addition, the only PET scan center in the country I would trust right now for doing the PET scan for the determination of PVS is New York-Cornell Medical Center with Niko Schiff. There are other PET scan centers in the US (such as in Miami and Atlanta which I contacted in 2002 as to the feasibility of doing a PET scan at these centers), but the only one doing top quality work with the precision necessary for PVS is the one in New York.
I do not believe there are "a number of other prominent members of your field" who feel these other tests should be done, because these "other prominent members" are physicians with strong conservative credentials who obviously don't know the facts of the case, and some of these physicians have "credentials" similar to Dr. Maxfield and Dr. Hammesfahr (the "HBO and vasodilator experts"). Where were these physicians earlier in the case when they could have examined Terri and testified at trial on behalf of the Schindler family, instead of the two doctors whom Judge Greer found not very credible?
The calls for new tests on Terri are nothing more than one of several last minute desperation moves by the Schindlers and their supporters to delay the withdrawal of the feeding tube from Terri. There has never been a more extensively litigated case in the history of right to die cases in terms of the length of the entire litigation itself, and the extensive medical testimony during the elaborate evidentiary hearing of 2002, and the thorough review of this medical tesimony by the appeals court.
Did those eminent docs explain how to do a MRI when she has metal electrodes implanted in her skull?
I've got a nice piece of land in the southern part of Florida you might be interested in...