Talk:Brain death

Right now, this article has a tautology: "permanent" cessation of EEG activity is not reversible: well, that's true by definition.

Question: can brain electrical activity ever cease reversibly? What about deep anaesthesia, or hypothermia? The Anome

See the ECT article for one possible answer: does anyone have a cite for this?

Propofol brings about a dose-dependent diminution of cerebral blood flow, decreases global cerebral metabolic rate, and is potent enough to create a flat electroencephalogram in high doses. This state is rapidly reversible with no neurologic change thereafter.

"Brain death" cannot be diagnosed (by EEG) in the presence of such EEG-dampening drugs. - Nunh-huh 19:19, 31 Mar 2004 (UTC)

irreversibility of brain death

I revised the page fairly extensively, no offense intended. I am a practicing transplant surgeon and know quite a lot about the topic. The key point I would like to make is that brain dead individuals not only have lack of brain function, they have actual necrosis (death) of all brain tissue. Thus, profoundly hypothermic people can have flat EEGs but are not brain dead, at least as clinicians use the term. Assessing cerebral blood flow with radionuclide scanning (or, historically, arteriography) is extremely useful and eliminates any uncertainty about whether recovery is possible.

Another important point is that anyone with a neurologic injury severe enough to have any question of being brain dead has a negligible chance of meaningful recovery, even if they still have some respirations or other brain stem function.

Necrosis, now that's irreversible. Should we emphasize that as the "true" definition of brain death, with the various types of tests as a way of detecting the absence of necrosis? (ie "brain life") -- The Anome 06:10, 1 Apr 2004 (UTC)

While it is true that flat EEG's can occur in situations where the individual is not "brain dead", it is not correct to say that brain dead individuals have necrosis of all brain tissue. For one thing, brain death can often be determined within 24 hours of whatever event caused the brain death, and that is too soon for necrosis of the entire brain to have ocurred. The important thing to remember is that brain death criteria are present to determine both the complete and irreversible loss of entire brain function. Things like hypothermia and drug intoxication may cause loss of entire brain function for example, but the loss of brain function in these instances is potentially reversible so is not equivalent to brain death. Necrosis has never been a criterion for determining brain death.

Thank you

I thought this was an excellent encyclopedia article. It's understandable to the layperson, yet specific and scientific. Thank you. jengod 20:36, Feb 14, 2005 (UTC)

Confusing Term

Another ambiguity is the use of the term "brain dead individual." If someone is brain dead they are legally dead. Once a person dies they are then a corpse and no longer an individual. This is not a trivial matter as the entire concept of brain death does not at all address the issue of what it means to be alive or dead, but is just a list of criterion to determine irreversible loss of entire brain function. It is clear to me that society has not accepted the concept of brain death as equivalent to dead because of the use of phrases such as this one.

This article needs a complete rewrite.

One can have an individual chair, or an individual shirt. The term seems fine for reffering to living or dead or non-animate things. HighInBC 06:36, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

The brain makes the individual

The answer is simple:

The legs are for locomotion

The arms are for manipulation

The torso is for life support

But... it's the brain that makes up the individual, and the face that's its identity to others.