Further aspects of angiographic brain death
Ameratunga, B.; Jefferson, N.R.; Rajapakse, S.
Australasian Radiology 20(3): 291-295
1976
ISSN/ISBN: 0004-8461 PMID: 1024506 Document Number: 107662
The unequivocal establishment of death and the medico-legal and ethical aspects of establishing irreversible brain death were discussed. The conditions are favorable for organ transplant in a patient who has cerebral circulatory arrest per se with good perfusion of the rest of the visceral organs. The prevention of a rise of intracranial pressure is essential in the management of cerebral trauma. All patients with a tentative diagnosis of cerebral death should have angiographic studies to confirm the absence of perfusion. Serial angiography using a catheter in the aortic arch is by far the easiest method of establishing this diagnosis. The state of cerebral perfusion was observed in a patient before cerebral death and after. A rise of intracranial pressure is probably the most important factor in the management of cerebral trauma.