title: Imaging findings of brain death on 3-tesla MRI.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To demonstrate the usefulness of 3-tesla (3T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), time-of-flight (TOF) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), T2*-weighted gradient recalled echo (GRE), and susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) in diagnosing brain death.
  
  
  METHODS
  Magnetic resonance imaging findings for 10 patients with clinically verified brain death (group I) and seven patients with comatose or stuporous mentality who did not meet the clinical criteria of brain death (group II) were retrospectively reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Tonsilar herniation and loss of intraarterial flow signal voids (LIFSV) on T2WI were highly sensitive and specific findings for the diagnosis of brain death (p < 0.001 and < 0.001, respectively). DWI, TOF-MRA, and GRE findings were statistically different between the two groups (p = 0.015, 0.029, and 0.003, respectively). However, cortical high signal intensities in T2WI and SWI findings were not statistically different between the two group (p = 0.412 and 1.0, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  T2-weighted imaging, DWI, and MRA using 3T MRI may be useful for diagnosing brain death. However, SWI findings are not specific due to high false positive findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 110-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Chul-Ho
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.forename: Hwa-Pyung
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jun Beom
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hyuk Won
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Ealmaan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Eunhee
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ui Jun
authors.initials: UJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hyoung-Tae
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jeonghun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ku
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001926:Brain Death / Q000473:pathology*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity