Introduction A 20-year-old boy was admitted to ICU with a traumatic brain injury following a road traffic accident 48 hours ago. His initial GCS at the scene was 5/15. He was intubated and ventilated by a paramedic and transferred to Accident and Emergency. A CT scan...
No universally accepted definition of what constitutes death within either medicine or law A definition of brainstem death is taken from the unitary state of death as proposed by the Academy of Medical Royal College’s (AoMRC) 2008 Report ‘Code of Practice...
The most frequently seen pathologies associated with brainstem death are: Direct Insult Indirect Insult Shearing injury due to trauma or hangingFocal ischaemia of vertebral / basilar artery pathology:Traumatic vertebral dissectionSubarachnoid haemorrhage Focal...
Carried out by two medical practitioners holding full GMC registration for more than five years: One of whom should be a consultant Experienced in interpreting the results Independent of the transplant team (represents a conflict of interest) The doctors may carry out...
Testing should be performed a minimum of 6 hours after loss of last brain stem function Longer period should be given in atypical presentations: A minimum of 24 hours should be given if primary aetiology hypoxic brain injury Prolonged observation may be required in...
