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Brain death: Timing of apnea testing in primary brain stem lesion

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Abstract

In a 73-year-old patient complete areflexia of the cerebral and peripheral nerves following the rupture of an aneurysm of the basilar artery was diagnosed. During apnea testing the spectral analysis of electroencephalography (EEG) revealed an irreversible shift of peak from 6 to 3 Hz within the low frequency bands. These findings suggest that apnea testing in patients with primary lesion of the brain stem should be carried out only after an isoelectric EEG.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 29, A-8036, Graz, Austria

    G. Schwarz, G. Litscher & G. Fuchs

  2. Department of Medical Informatics, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology, Graz, Austria

    G. Pfurtscheller

  3. Department of Anesthesiology, LKH, Klagenfurt, Austria

    H. V. Schalk

  4. Department of Neurology, LKH, Klagenfurt, Austria

    E. Rumpl

Authors
  1. G. Schwarz
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  2. G. Litscher
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  3. G. Pfurtscheller
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  4. H. V. Schalk
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  5. E. Rumpl
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  6. G. Fuchs
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Additional information

This study was supported by the “Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung in Österreich (project S49/03)” and the “Jubliäumsfonds der Österreichischen Nationalbank (project 4205)”

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Schwarz, G., Litscher, G., Pfurtscheller, G. et al. Brain death: Timing of apnea testing in primary brain stem lesion. Intensive Care Med 18, 315–316 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01706483

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01706483

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