Article
Clinical Neurology
Marcelo Matiello, Ashby C. Turner, Juan Estrada, Cynthia M. Whitney, Barrett T. Kitch, Patrick T. Lee, Uma Girkar, Rafael Palacios, Pooja Singla, Lee Schwamm
Summary: The study showed that conducting TN consultations for patients with severe neurologic damage and allowing expert supervision for DNC examination is feasible. Having a teleneurologist as part of the ICU assessment team helped differentiate severe neurologic deficits from DNC and was associated with an increase in organ donation.
Article
Critical Care Medicine
Ibrahim Migdady, Moein Amin, Aaron Shoskes, Catherine Hassett, Alexander Rae-Grant, Sam B. Snider, David M. Greer, Sung-Min Cho, Pravin George
Summary: The study found that most brain death patients required ancillary studies for determination. Female patients and those with hypoxic brain injury were more likely to undergo ancillary studies. In recent years, the use of electroencephalograms for brain death determination has decreased.
CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Bartosz Kudlinski, Marta Trosiak, Magdalena Wojciech, Gabriel Zaborniak, Jagoda Kania, Aleksandra Buczek, Olga Fedorowicz, Marek Myslak
Summary: The population of patients declared as brain dead and qualified for organ donation is relatively low in Poland. The study found that early brain imaging for suspected brain dead patients may increase the rate of organ donation.
FRONTIERS IN MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Tauana Fernandes Vasconcelos, Mayra Goncalves Menegueti, Carlos Alexandre Curylofo Corsi, Jessyca Michelon-Barbosa, Lucas Sato, Anibal Basile-Filho, Christiane Becari, Rosana Aparecida Spadoti Dantas, Maria Auxiliadora-Martins
Summary: Precocity and assertiveness are crucial for identifying potential organ donors through diagnosing brain death. A web-based survey was conducted to evaluate physicians' knowledge about brain death and organ donation. The majority of the physicians showed low knowledge about diagnosing brain death and organ donation protocols, despite working in intensive care units. Participants who had completed their graduation between 6 and 10 years, were intensive care physicians, had participated in training courses, had worked in the ICU for 6 to 10 years, had performed over 10 brain death protocols, and felt confident in discussing brain death with family members performed better in the survey.
Article
Surgery
Christopher M. Bobba, Bryan A. Whitson, Matthew C. Henn, Nahush A. Mokadam, Brian C. Keller, Justin Rosenheck, Asvin M. Ganapathi
Summary: The use of lungs donated after circulatory death (DCD) has increased, with similar survival rates compared to lungs donated after brain death (DBD). This supports further utilization of DCD lungs in transplantation, expanding the donor pool.
TRANSPLANT INTERNATIONAL
(2022)
Article
Anesthesiology
R. M. K. Curtis, A. R. Manara, S. Madden, C. Brown, S. Duncalf, D. Harvey, A. Tridente, D. Gardiner
Summary: The organ donation consent rate in the UK increased from 61% to 67% between 2013 and 2019, but remains lower than many European countries. Factors influencing consent include patient ethnicity, religious beliefs, sex, socio-economic status, and family discussions about organ donation.
Review
Clinical Neurology
Shane Musick, Anthony Alberico
Summary: Sedation is a common practice in ICUs and NCCUs, reducing cerebral energy demands but hindering accurate neurological assessment. Neurologic wake-up tests (NWTs) are considered the gold-standard for assessing brain-injured patients under sedation, but can also induce acute stress responses. There are strict contraindications for NWTs, and concerns regarding safety in certain situations such as hemodynamic instability and sedative use for ICP control or respiratory distress.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY
(2021)
Review
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Ibrahim Migdady, Robert Scott Stephens, Carrie Price, Romergryko G. Geocadin, Glenn Whitman, Sung-Min Cho
Summary: The use of apnea test in ECMO patients is associated with a high failure rate and hemodynamic complications; ancillary tests are recommended to determine brain death in ECMO patients, highlighting the variability in practice regarding the apnea test.
JOURNAL OF THORACIC AND CARDIOVASCULAR SURGERY
(2021)
Article
Critical Care Medicine
William N. Sveen, Armand H. Matheny Antommaria, Stephen J. Gilene, Erika L. Stalets
Summary: This study aimed to report the prevalence of adverse events in children undergoing apnea testing as part of the determination of death by neurologic criteria (DNC). The results showed that adverse events occurred in 21 out of 105 apnea tests (20%), with hypotension (14%) and hypoxia (4%) being the most common. Only 5% of the adverse events required premature termination, and the remaining 15% were resolved with medical care.
PEDIATRIC CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE
(2023)
Review
Clinical Neurology
Marcia Harumy Yoshikawa, Nicollas Nunes Rabelo, Leonardo Christiaan Welling, Joao Paulo Mota Telles, Eberval Gadelha Figueiredo
Summary: The definition and diagnostic criteria of brain death remain controversial despite evolving over time. Difficulties in family understanding lead to ineffective therapies, increased healthcare costs, and hinder the organ transplantation process. The criteria for determining brain death vary between countries, even though following recommendations.
NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Anesthesiology
Sam D. Shemie, Lindsay C. Wilson, Laura Hornby, John Basmaji, Andrew J. Baker, Cecile M. Bensimon, Jennifer A. Chandler, Michael Chasse, Rosanne Dawson, Sonny Dhanani, Owen T. Mooney, Aimee J. Sarti, Christy Simpson, Jeanne Teitelbaum, Sylvia Torrance, J. Gordon Boyd, Joanne Brennan, Heather Brewster, Robert Carignan, Kirk J. Dawe, Christopher J. Doig, Kennedy Elliott-Pohl, Teneille E. Gofton, Michael Hartwick, Andrew Healey, Kimia Honarmand, Karen Hornby, George Isac, Aly Kanji, Joann Kawchuk, Jennifer A. Klowak, Andreas H. Kramer, Julie Kromm, Allana E. LeBlanc, Katarina Lee-Ameduri, Laurie A. Lee, Murdoch Leeies, Ariane Lewis, Alex Manara, Shauna Matheson, Nicole K. A. McKinnon, Nicholas Murphy, Joel Neves Briard, Thaddeus M. Pope, Mypinder S. Sekhon, Jai Jai S. Shanker, Gurmeet Singh, Jeffrey Singh, Marat Slessarev, Karim Soliman, Stephanie Sutherland, Matthew J. Weiss, Randi Zlotnik Shaul, Lionel S. Zuckier, David J. Zorko, Bram Rochwerg
Summary: This 2023 Clinical Practice Guideline provides the biomedical definition of death based on permanent cessation of brain function and recommends death determination methods for potential organ donors based on circulatory criteria and for all mechanically ventilated patients based on neurologic criteria, regardless of organ donation potential. This Guideline is endorsed by various medical associations and organizations in Canada.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ANESTHESIA-JOURNAL CANADIEN D ANESTHESIE
(2023)
Article
Surgery
A. K. Israni, D. Zaun, J. D. Rosendale, C. Schaffhausen, W. McKinney, J. J. Snyder
Summary: In 2019, there was an increase in both the number of deceased organ donors and organ transplants, which may be linked to the rising death rates of young people due to the opioid epidemic. The data indicates an opportunity to increase transplant numbers by reducing organ discards.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION
(2021)
Article
Surgery
A. K. Israni, D. Zaun, K. Gauntt, C. Schaffhausen, W. McKinney, J. J. Snyder
Summary: SRTR uses data from OPTN to calculate metrics such as donation rate, organ yield, and rate of organs not transplanted. The number of deceased donors and organ transplants increased in 2020 despite the pandemic, with a notable increase in kidney, liver, and heart transplants. The data also suggests an opportunity to increase transplants by reducing the number of discarded organs.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Sahel Shafiee Dolat Abadi, Nasim Zamani, Sahar Abbasi, Maziar Shojaei, Hossein Hassanian-Moghaddam
Summary: This is the first documented case of neurological sequelae following phosphide poisoning that emphasizes the importance of brain imaging studies for patients with loss of consciousness.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Shivank Madan, Omar Saeed, Stephen J. Forest, Daniel J. Goldstein, Ulrich P. Jorde, Snehal R. Patel
Summary: This study provides a preliminary analysis of adult donation after circulatory death heart transplantations (DCD-HTs) in the United States, showing favorable early outcomes and suggesting the potential for a substantial increase in adult heart transplant volumes with the use of DCD donors.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY
(2022)