The war over the fate of Terri Schiavo was entering its final stages today as her parents clung to two slim hopes of preventing their severely brain-damaged daughter from being allowed to die.

The 41-year-old has been without food or water for almost seven days, after her feeding tube was removed last Friday on the orders of a Florida state judge.

Friends and lawyers say she is showing signs of dehydration - flaky skin, dry tongue and lips, and sunken eyes. Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of the tube being removed.

"It's very frustrating. Every minute that goes by is a minute that Terri is being starved and dehydrated to death," said her brother, Bobby Schindler, who said seeing her was like looking at "pictures of prisoners in concentration camps".

But Brian Schiavo, the brother of Mrs Schiavo's husband Michael who has argued for her to be allowed to die with dignity, strongly disagreed, telling CNN that Terri Schiavo "does look a little withdrawn" but insisting she was not in pain. He added that starvation is simply "part of the death process".

One of the final hopes of Mrs Schiavo's parents lies in the federal courts. Last night Bob and Mary Schindler went back before a federal judge in Tampa, filing another emergency request that the feeding tube be reattached while they pursue claims that their daughter's rights are being violated.

District Judge James Whittemore previously rejected an almost identical request on Tuesday. He promised to work through the night to issue his new ruling.

The second and more dramatic hope lies in the hands of Jeb Bush, the Governor of Florida, who was last night considering the politically explosive step of ordering state officials to force their way into the hospice where Mrs Schiavo lies motionless and take her into state custody, in defiance of the US courts.

A Florida judge yesterday rejected a request by Governor Bush to allow the state to take custody of her, but the governor's aides afterwards refused to rule out further action.

The possibility emerged on Wednesday night, when Governor Bush declared that Mrs Schiavo - who court-appointed doctors say has been in persistent vegetative state for 15 years - had been misdiagnosed. He based his assertion on "new information" provided by William Cheshire, a Florida neurologist, who says that she may only be in a "minimally conscious" state.

Although Dr Cheshire, a leading member of the Christian right-to-life movement, did not examine Mrs Schiavo, he observed her for an hour on March 1. Governor Bush maintained that his testimony was compelling enough for the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) to take her into protective custody.

On Wednesday night, amid reports that Florida state officials were "mobilising" outside Mrs Schiavo's hospice, Florida Circuit Judge George Greer issued an emergency restraining order prohibiting DCF agents from seizing her.

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