Erschienen in:
09.07.2020 | Original Work
Ancillary Testing for Determination of Death by Neurologic Criteria Around the World
verfasst von:
Ariane Lewis, Jordan Liebman, Elana Kreiger-Benson, Andrew Kumpfbeck, Azza Bakkar, Sam D. Shemie, Gene Sung, Sylvia Torrance, David Greer
Erschienen in:
Neurocritical Care
|
Ausgabe 2/2021
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Abstract
Objective
We sought to identify similarities and differences in the diagnostic requirements for ancillary testing for determination of brain death/death by neurologic criteria (BD/DNC) around the world.
Methods
We reviewed diagnostic requirements for ancillary testing for BD/DNC in 78 unique official national BD/DNC protocols obtained from contacts worldwide between January 2018 and April 2019.
Results
Details provided on the performance and interpretation of ancillary tests for determination of BD/DNC were variably provided and inconsistent. Approximately half of all protocols that included each ancillary test provided details about study performance: 63% of protocols that included conventional cerebral angiography, 55% of protocols that included electroencephalography, 50% of protocols that included somatosensory evoked potentials, 48% of protocols that included transcranial Doppler ultrasonography, 43% of protocols that included nuclear medicine flow study and 41% of protocols that included brainstem auditory evoked potentials. Similarly, about half of all protocols that included each ancillary test provided details about study interpretation: 66% of protocols that included electroencephalography, 59% of protocols that included brainstem auditory evoked potentials, 56% of protocols that included somatosensory evoked potentials, 55% of protocols that included transcranial Doppler ultrasonography, 52% of protocols that included conventional cerebral angiography and 49% of protocols that included nuclear medicine flow study.
Interpretation
Diagnostic requirements for ancillary testing in BD/DNC determination vary around the world. We hope that the World Brain Death Project will improve worldwide consensus on the diagnostic requirements for ancillary testing in BD/DNC, both for performance and interpretation.