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Brain Tissue Oxygenation in Children Diagnosed With Brain Death

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Abstract

Background

Diagnosing brain death in children is challenging. Guidelines recommend using confirmatory testing to provide ancillary information to support the diagnosis. Brain tissue oxygenation (PbtO2) is being increasingly used in the adult neurocritical care for continuous monitoring of the adequacy of brain oxygenation; however, data in pediatrics is limited. Evidence from adult studies suggests that persistent PbtO2 of 0 mmHg is associated with brain death, but this relationship has not yet been demonstrated in children; therefore, we examined our experience with PbtO2 monitoring and brain death in children with acute neurological pathology.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed patient records from a prospectively maintained database of 85 children who were ventilated for coma due to acute neurological injury and who received intracerebral monitoring.

Results

We identified five children who had suffered brain death while being monitored. PbtO2 had decreased to 0 mmHg in all five children at the time of brain death diagnosis. In contrast, PbtO2 in patients, who did not develop brain death, never decreased to 0 mmHg. We review the benefits and drawbacks of using brain tissue oxygenation as ancillary information in diagnosing brain death in children.

Conclusions

Preliminary data from this study suggest that PbtO2 decreases to 0 mmHg when brain death occurs in children. Further study is needed to determine the limitations, and the sensitivity and specificity of this finding in a larger group of children.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Anthony A. Figaji

  2. University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

    Samuel J. Kent

Authors
  1. Anthony A. Figaji
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  2. Samuel J. Kent
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Correspondence to Samuel J. Kent.

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Figaji, A.A., Kent, S.J. Brain Tissue Oxygenation in Children Diagnosed With Brain Death. Neurocrit Care 12, 56–61 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12028-009-9298-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12028-009-9298-5

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