The case against confirmatory tests for determining brain death in adults

Neurology

Volumn 75, Issue 1, 2010, Pages 77-83

  Wijdicks, Eelco F M ^a  

^a MAYO CLINIC   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ALGORITHM; BRAIN BLOOD FLOW; BRAIN DEATH; CLINICAL ASSESSMENT; COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC ANGIOGRAPHY; DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY; ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM; EVOKED SOMATOSENSORY RESPONSE; FALSE NEGATIVE RESULT; FALSE POSITIVE RESULT; HUMAN; NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING; PRIORITY JOURNAL; REVIEW;

EID: 77954627177     PISSN: 00283878     EISSN: 1526632X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181e62194     Document Type: Review

References (54)

1. Plum F, Posner JB. The Diagnosis of Stupor and Coma Edition 2: Contemporary Neurology Series. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis; 1972: 231.
2. Pallis C, Harley D. ABC of Brainstem Death, 2nd ed. London: BMJ Publishing Group; 1996.
3. Adams RD, Jequier M. The brain death syndrome: hypox-emic panencephalopathy. Schweiz Med Wochenschr 1969;99:65-73.
4. Wijdicks EFM. Brain death worldwide: accepted fact but no global consensus in diagnostic criteria. Neurology 2002;58:1367-1372.
5. Report of the ad hoc committee of the Harvard medical school to examine the definition of brain death: a definition of irreversible coma. JAMA 1968;205:337-340.
6. Gros C, Vlahovitch B, Roilgen A. Circulatory arrest in hyperacute intracranial hypertension. Presse Med 1959; 67:1065-1067.
7. Mollaret P, Goulon M. Coma depassé. Rev Neurol 1959; 101:3-15.
8. Ameratunga B, Jefferson NR, Ragapakse S. Further aspects of angiographic brain death. Australian Radiology 1976; 20:291-295.
9. Bradac GB, Simon RS. Angiography in brain death. Neu-roradiology 1974;7:25-28.
10. Forster FM, Nims LF. Electroencephalographic effects of acute increases of intracranial pressure. Arch Neurol Psychiatry 1942;47:449-453.
11. Fischgold H, Mathis P. Obnubilations, coma et stupeurs: etudes electroencephalographiques. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 1959;suppl 11:27-68.
12. Alderete JF, Jeri FR, Richardson EP, Jr., Sament S, Schwab RS, Young RR. Irreversible coma: a clinical, elec-troencephalographic and neuropathological study. Trans Am Neurol Assoc 1968;93:16-20.
13. Beecher HK. After the "definition of irreversible coma." N Engl J Med 1969;281:1070-1071.
14. American Neurological Association. Revised statement regarding method for determining that the brain is dead. Trans Am Neurol Assoc 1977;102:192-193.
15. Guidelines for the determination of death: report of the medical consultants on the diagnosis of death to the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biochemical and Behavioral Research. JAMA 1981;246:2184-2186.
16. Löfstedt S, von Reis G. Diminution or obstruction of blood flow in the internal carotid artery. Opuse Med 1959; 4:345-360.
17. Goodman JM, Mishkin FS, Kyken M. Determination of brain death by isotope angiography. JAMA 1969;209: 1869-1872.
18. Yoneda S, Nishimoto A, Nukada T, Kuriyama Y, Kat-surada K. To-and-fro movement and external escape of carotid arterial blood in brain death cases: a Doppler ultrasonic study. Stroke 1974;5:707-713.
19. Starr A. Auditory brainstem responses in brain death. Brain 1976;99:543-554.
20. Goldie WD, Chiappa KH, Young RR, Brooks EB. Brain-stem auditory and short-latency somatosensory evoked responses in brain death. Neurology 1981;31:248-256.
21. Rappaport ZH, Brinker RA, Rovit RL. Evaluation of brain death by contrast-enhanced computerized cranial tomography. Neurosurgery 1978;2:230-232.
22. Rangel RA. Computerized axial tomography in brain death. Stroke 1978;9:597-598.
23. Jones KM, Barnes PD. MR diagnosis of brain death. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 1992;13:65-66.
24. Escudero D, Otero J, Muñiz G, et al. The bispectral index scale: its use in the detection of brain death. Transplant Proc 2005;37:3661-3663.
25. Vivien B, Paqueron X, Le Cosquer P, Langeron O, Coriat P, Riou B. Detection of brain death onset using the bispec-tral index in severely comatose patients. Intensive Care Med 2002;28:419-425.
26. Díaz-Regañón G, Miñambres E, Holanda M, González-Herrera S, López-Espadas F, Garrido-Díaz C. Usefulness of venous oxygen saturation in the jugular bulb for the diagnosis of brain death: report of 118 patients. Intensive Care Med 2002;28:1724-1728.
27. Palmer S, Bader MK. Brain tissue oxygenation in brain death. Neurocrit Care 2005;2:17-22.
28. Wijdicks EF, Pfeifer EA. Neuropathology of brain death in the modern transplant era. Neurology 2008;70:1234-1237.
29. Kuo J-R, Chen C-F, Chio C-C, et al. Time dependent validity in the diagnosis of brain death using transcranial Doppler sonography. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2006;77:646-649.
30. Quesnel C, Fulgencio J-P, Adrie C, et al. Limitations of computed tomographic angiography in the diagnosis of brain death. Intensive Care Med 2007;33:2129-2135.
31. Escudero D, Otero J, Marques L, et al. Diagnosing brain death by CT perfusion and multislice CT angiography. Neurocrit Care 2009;11:261-271.
32. Combes J-C, Chomel A, Ricolfi F, d'Athis P, Freysz M. Reliability of computed tomographic angiography in the diagnosis of brain death. Transplant Proc 2007;39:16-20.
33. Lampl Y, Gilad R, Eschel Y, Boaz M, Rapoport A, Sa-deh M. Diagnosing brain death using the transcranial Doppler with a transorbital approach. Arch Neurol 2002;59:58-60.
34. de Freitas GR, André C. Sensitivity of transcranial Dopp-ler for confirming brain death: a prospective study of 270 cases. Acta Neurol Scand 2006;113:426-432.
35. Dosemeci L, Dora B, Yilmaz M, Cengiz M, Galkan S, Ramazanoglu A. Utility of transcranial Doppler ultra-sonography for confirmatory diagnosis of brain death: two sides of the coin. Transplantation 2004;77:71-75. (Pubitemid 38116875)
36. Petty GW, Mohr JP, Pedley TA, et al. The role of transcra-nial Doppler in confirming brain death: sensitivity, specificity, and suggestions for performance and interpretation. Neurology 1990;40:300-303.
37. Wieler H, Marohl K, Kaiser KP, Klawki P, Frössler H. Tc-99m HMPAO cerebral scintigraphy: A reliable, nonin-vasive method for determination of brain death. Clin Nucl Med 1993;18:104-109.
38. Munari M, Zucchetta P, Carollo C, et al. Confirmatory tests in the diagnosis of brain death: comparison between SPECT and contrast angiography. Crit Care Med 2005; 33:2068-2073.
39. Hassler W, Steinmetz H, Gawlowski J. Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography in raised intracranial pressure and in intracranial circulatory arrest. J Neurosurg 1988;68: 745-751.
40. Powers AD, Graeber MC, Smith RR. Transcranial Dopp-ler ultrasonography in the determination of brain death. Neurosurgery 1989;24:884-889.
41. Newell DW, Grady MS, Sirotta P, Winn HR. Evaluation of brain death using transcranial Doppler. Neurosurgery 1989;24:509-513.
42. Nebra AC, Virgós B, Santos S, et al. Clinical diagnosis of brain death and transcranial Doppler, looking for middle cerebral arteries and intracranial vertebral arteries: agreement with scintigraphic techniques. Rev Neurol 2001;33: 916-920.
43. Zurynski Y, Dorsch N, Pearson I, Choong R. Transcranial Doppler ultrasound in brain death: experience in 140 patients. Neurol Res 1991;13:248-252.
44. Reid RH, Gulenchyn KY, Ballinger JR. Clinical use of technetium-99m HM-PAO for determination of brain death. J Nucl Med 1989;30:1621-1626.
45. Yatim A, Mercatello A, Coronel B, et al. 99mTc-HMPAO cerebral scintigraphy in the diagnosis of brain death. Transplant Proc 1991;23:2491.
46. Greer DM, Strozyk D, Schwamm LH. False positive CT an-giography in brain death. Neurocrit Care 2009;11:272-275.
47. Berenguer CM, Davis FE, Howington JU. Brain death confirmation: comparison of computed tomography with nuclear medicine perfusion scan. J Trauma 2010;68:553-559.
48. Young GB, Shemie SD, Doig CJ, Teitelbaum J. Brief review: the role of ancillary tests in the neurological determination of death. Can J Anaesth 2006;53:620-627. (Pubitemid 44150905)
49. Nau R, Prange HW, Klingelhöfer J, et al. Results of four technical investigations in fifty clinically brain dead patients. Intensive Care Med 1992;18:82-88.
50. Hansen AVE, Lavin PJM, Moody EB, Sandler MP. False-negative cerebral radionuclide flow study, in brain death, caused by a ventricular drain. Clin Nucl Med 1993;18: 502-505.
51. Ala TA, Kuhn MJ, Johnson AJ. A case meeting clinical brain death criteria with residual cerebral perfusion. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2006;27:1805-1806.
52. Wijdicks EF, Rabinstein AA, Manno EM, Atkinson JD. Pronouncing brain death: contemporary practice and safety of the apnea test. Neurology 2008;71:1240-1244.
53. Hornby K, Hornby L, Shemie SD. A systematic review of autoresuscitation after cardiac arrest. Crit Care Med 2010; 38:1246-1253.
54. Flowers WM, Jr., Patel BR. Radionuclide angiography as a confirmatory test for brain death: a review of 229 studies in 219 patients. South Med J 1997;90:1091-1096.