Diagnosis of brain death. Transcranial Doppler sonography as an additional method.
Ever since transplant surgery became a common procedure, the early diagnosis of irreversible cessation of cerebral function has become an important need. We made a comparative study of EEG, angiography and transcranial Doppler imaging in patients who fulfilled the clinical criteria for brain death. The imaging was performed with a 2 MHz pulsed Doppler system with a unique transcranial probe (EME, type TC2-64 B). Intracranial reverberating flow patterns with counterbalancing forward and backward components of the blood column indicate flow arrest. Transcranial Doppler Sonography was found to be a practical, non invasive, early and reliable method for the diagnosis of arrest of the cerebral circulation.
Van Velthoven
V
V
Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Ghent, Belgium.
Calliauw
L
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001926:Brain Death / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014463:Ultrasonography