Brain Death Criteria: Medical Dogma and Outliers

Molly Rayner; Maha Mansoor; Tanya Holt; Gregory Hansen

Brain Death Criteria: Medical Dogma and Outliers

Yale J Biol Med. 2019 Dec 20;92(4):751-755. eCollection 2019 Dec.

Authors

Molly Rayner¹, Maha Mansoor¹, Tanya Holt², Gregory Hansen²

Affiliations

¹ College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
² Division of Critical Care, Department of Pediatrics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

PMID: 31866791
PMCID: PMC6913809

Abstract

The diagnosis of brain death (BD) is legally and medically accepted. Recently, several high-profile cases have led to discussions regarding the integrity of current criteria, and many physiologic problems have been identified to support the necessity for their reevaluation. These include a global variability of the criteria, the suggestion of a clinical "hierarchy," and the resultant approximation of BD. Further ambiguity has been exposed through case reports of reversible BD, and an inconsistent understanding from physicians who are viewed as experts in this domain. Meeting BD criteria clearly does not equate to a physiologic "death" of the brain, and a greater community perspective should be considered as the dialogue moves forward.

Keywords: brain death; determination of death.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Brain Death / pathology*
Guidelines as Topic
Humans
Physicians
Public Opinion