Brain Death

Eelco F. M. Wijdicks is Professor of Neurology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Chair of the Division of Critical Care Neurology, and Consultant, Neurological Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.

CHAPTER 1 HISTORY OF BRAIN DEATH ; CHAPTER 2 NEUROLOGY OF BRAIN DEATH ; CHAPTER 3 BELIEFS ABOUT BRAIN DEATH ; CHAPTER 4 CRITICS AND BRAIN DEATH ; CHAPTER 5 PROCUREMENT AFTER BRAIN DEATH ; CHAPTER 6 CLINICAL PROBLEMS IN BRAIN DEATH ; 1. The qualification of the examiner. ; 2. Clinical mimics. ; 3. Acid-base disturbances. ; 4. Electrolyte abnormalities. ; 5. Acute intoxications. ; 6. Reliability of ancillary tests. ; 7. Ancillary tests and confounders. ; 8. Primary brainstem lesion. ; 9. Uncertainty with interpreting spinal reflexes. ; 10. Ventilator autocycling. ; 11. Chronic CO2 retention and apnea test. ; 12. Aborting the apnea test. ; 13. Breathing during the apnea test. ; 14. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation. ; 15. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). ; 16. Anencephaly. ; 17. Shaken baby syndrome. ; 18. Maternal brain death. ; 19. Legal concerns. ; 20. Family opposition. ; 21. Sperm and oocyte retrieval. ; 22. Organ donation and the hemodynamically unstable donor. ; 23. Organ donation in prisoners. ; 24. Organ donation, consent and costs. ; 25. Organ donation and directing the gift.