Background and objectives: The purpose of this guideline is to update the 2010 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) brain death/death by neurologic criteria (BD/DNC) guideline for adults and the 2011 American Academy of Pediatrics, Child Neurology Society, and Society of Critical Care Medicine guideline for infants and children and to clarify the BD/DNC determination process by integrating guidance for adults and children into a single guideline. Updates in this guideline include guidance related to conducting the BD/DNC evaluation in the context of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, targeted temperature management, and primary infratentorial injury.
Methods: A panel of experts from multiple medical societies developed BD/DNC recommendations. Because of the lack of high-quality evidence on the subject, a novel, evidence-informed formal consensus process was used. This process relied on the panel experts' review and detailed knowledge of the literature surrounding BD/DNC to guide the development of preliminary recommendations. Recommendations were formulated and voted on, using a modified Delphi process, according to the 2017 AAN Clinical Practice Guideline Process Manual.
Major recommendations: Eighty-five recommendations were developed on the following: (1) general principles for the BD/DNC evaluation, (2) qualifications to perform BD/DNC evaluations, (3) prerequisites for BD/DNC determination, (4) components of the BD/DNC neurologic examination, (5) apnea testing as part of the BD/DNC evaluation, (6) ancillary testing as part of the BD/DNC evaluation, and (7) special considerations for BD/DNC determination.