Turkish Neurosurgery 1997 , Vol 7 , Num 1-2
THE ROLE OF TRANSCRANIAL DOPPLER IN THE CONFIRMATION OF BRAIN DEATH
R. Kemal KOÇ, Ahmet SELÇUKLU, Mehmet MERAL, Ahmet MENKÜ, Fettah TÜMTÜRK
Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, Kayseri, Turkey We investigated the value of transcranial Doppler (TCD) examinations of intracranial arteries as a diagnostic test for the confirmation of brain death. Twenty nine patients with intracranial hypertension who subsequently developed brain death according to clinical criteria were evaluated by TCD ultrasonography during a 16-month period. Typical TCD findings in the arteries of brain-dead patients consisted of either absent or reversed diastolic flow or small early systolic spikes in at least 2 intracranial arteries. This waveform abnormality was found in 26 (89.7 %) of the 29 patients confirmed to be brain dead by clinical criteria, and was absent in 3 (10.3 %). This abnormality does not appear in other patients with coma. All patients with waveform abnormality in TCD examination died. TCD, a practical, noninvasive, early and reliable method for the confirmation of brain death, can be a rapid and convenient alternative to confirmatory tests about vascular circulation. Keywords : Brain death, transcranial Doppler (TCD)
Corresponding author : R. Kemal Koç