Brain Death

Brain Death is a new, ambitious, and thoroughly researched work that draws heavily upon original research data but also is interspersed throughout with practical information for the practicing neurologist, neurointensivist, neurosurgeon, anesthesiologist, trauma surgeon and organ procurement organizations. The core of the text combines the science and practice of brain death determination. The author describes in the first five chapters the complex neurological evaluation and all the pitfalls. The book also discusses cultural beliefs, religious views, bioethical problems and many of the issues associated with organ procurement. Brain Death also includes a separate chapter that comprises 25 of the most commonly encountered problems in evaluating the brain dead patient and their corresponding answers, as well as a pocket card to assist with the documentation of brain death at the bedside. Brain Death is a complete treatise on the subject. There is no one in the world more personally qualified to deal with this complex and sensitive subject. The job of reviewing the broad swath of data and opinion about this new second edition of Brain Death. Martin Samuels, MD, Chairman, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA Eelco Wijdicks is the preeminent expert on brain death in the world. In this second edition of Brain Death, Dr. Wijdicks again provides a definitive and comprehensive text on the subject, while still being concise and practical enough to be of use to clinicans in daily practice. This book is mandatory for the libraries of actively practicing neurosurgeons, neurologists, and neurointensivists. Jonathan A. Friedman , MD, Regional Chair of Surgery, Bryan - College Station Campus, Associate Professor, Departments of Surgery, Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, Director, The Texas Brain and Spine Institute, Bryan, TX Dr. Wijdicks is one of the most accomplished experts in neurological critical care...[and] among his major contributions are his observations and clinical experiments regarding the examination of the patient with a severely damaged nervous system. [He] has catalogued his enormous personal experience in the second edition of his work, Brain Death. He has successfully distilled the literature into six chapters: The History of Brain Death, The Neurology of Brain Death, Beliefs about Brain Death, Critics and Brain Death, Procurement after Brain Death and Clinical Problems in Brain Death. There is no one in the world more personally qualified to deal with this complex and sensitive subject. The job of reviewing the broad swath of data and opinion about this subject is a daunting one but Dr. Wijdicks has proved he is up to the task in his new second edition of Brain Death. Martin Samuels, MD, Chairman, Department of Neurology, Brigham and WomenCHAPTER 1 HISTORY OF BRAIN DEATH ; CHAPTER 2 NEUROLOGY OF BRAIN DEATH ; CHAPTER 3 BELIEFS ABOUT BRAIN DEATH ; CHAPTER 4 CRITICS AND BRAIN DEATH ; CHAPTER 5 PROCUREMENT AFTER BRAIN DEATH ; CHAPTER 6 CLINICAL PROBLEMS IN BRAIN DEATH ; 1. The qualification of the examiner. ; 2. Clinical mimics. ; 3. Acid-base disturbances. ; 4. Electrolyte abnormalities. ; 5. Acute intoxications. ; 6. Reliability of ancillary tests. ; 7. Ancillary tests and confounders. ; 8. Primary brainstem lesion. ; 9. Uncertainty with interpreting spinal reflexes. ; 10. Ventilator autocycling. ; 11. Chronic CO2 retention and apnea test. ; 12. Aborting the apnea test. ; 13. Breathing during the apnea test. ; 14. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation. ; 15. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). ; 16. Anencephaly. ; 17. Shaken baby syndrome. ; 18. Maternal brain death. ; 19. Legal concerns. ; 20. Family opposition. ; 21. Sperm and oocyte retrieval. ; 22. Organ donation and the hemodynamically unstable donor. ; 23. Organ donation in prisoners. ; 24. Organ donation, consent and costs. ; 25. Organ donation and directing the gift.