Summary
Hydromineral metabolism and serum arginine-vasopressin (AVP) levels were investigated in 11 patients who sustained brain death. They showed various degrees of polyuria with low osmolality and low fractional sodium excretion. Urine osmolality was always below that of serum, and AVP levels were between 1.3 and 50.0 pg/ml vs 0.7–8.0 pg/ml in ten normal subjects. Thus central diabetes insipidus was excluded. A renal mechanism inducing water diuresis has to be assumed. The type of renal lesion, however, remains unclear.
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This work was supported by the “Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung”, project no. 3100, Vienna
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Hohenegger, M., Vermes, M., Mauritz, W. et al. Serum vasopressin (AVP) levels in polyuric brain-dead organ donors. Eur Arch Psychiatr Neurol Sci 239, 267–269 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01738582
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01738582