Brain Death: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Brain Death, Havana, Cuba, 27 February-1 March 1996(v. 9 Developments in Neurology S.)

Over the centuries people were deemed dead when they stopped breathing and when their hearts stopped beating. Technological advances however, have faded the frontiers between life and death. In the first symposium on this issue of brain death, delegates from 21 countries attended to discuss many controversial issues concerning brain death and related issues. This book is based on the second international symposium on the subject, and reflects the work of several groups, commissions and networks within this field, reflecting the tremendous actuality of the subject. Prominent scientists, therefore, present a rich source of knowledge in this volume, which will contribute to the knowledge of this and future generations. Any reason to enlarge knowledge of death (and life) is very much a matter of human dignity.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Conceptual approach to brain death and related issues: who defines death? medical, legal and philosophical perspectives; a complete definition of death - whole brain? higher brain?; a new formulation of death; reformulating death - overcoming "whole-brain" inconsistencies; what is wrong with "dead"? a new definition of death based on the basic mechanisms of consciousness generation in human beings. Part 2 Clinical approach to brain death and related issues: the brain death state in medical science, guidelines for the determination of death; two standards of death in Denmark; spinal man after brain death; the case of respirator brain after intracranium injury; the vegetative state. Part 3 Ancilliary tests in brain death and related issues: neurophysiologic criteria from coma to brain death; diagnostic reliability in loss of brainstem function evaluated by brainstem auditory evoked potentials and somatosensory evoked potentials in impending brain death; multimodality evoked potentials in the differential diagnosis of brain death; the problem of brain death and organ donation in poisoned patients; role of somatosensory evoked potentials in the diagnosis of brain death; a contribution of multimodality evoked potentials and electroretinography for the early diagnosis of brain death; prolonged EEG activity of brain death; the low voltage EEG in coma; accurate prediction of neurologic outcome after cardiac arrest; multimodality evoked potentials in the permanent vegetative state; study of intracranial circulation in brain-dead patients using transcranial doppler sonography (TCD); scintigraphy techniques in the diagnosis and confirmation of brain death; heart rate variability in coma and brain death. Part 4 Brain death in children and related issues: brain death determination in infants and children; consideration of anecephalic newborns as organ donors - ethical problems related to the determination of death; withdrawal of life-support in paediatric critical care; the persistent vegetative state in infants and children. Part 5 Bioethical, philosophical, theological, sociological and cultural considerations in brain death and related issues: is the sanctity of life ethics terminally ill?; redefining death - bioethical and theological implications; end-of-life care for non heart beating donors and their families; brain death - the Indian perspective; brain death - the Japanese controversy. Part 6 Euthanasia: euthanasia - a report from the Netherlands; euthanasia and its present debate in medicine.