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A multidisciplinary committee has updated its guidelines from 1987 on the determination of brain death in children, infants, and term neonates as young as 37 weeks' gestational age.
These guidelines affirm that, as in adults, a determination of brain death can be made in an infant or child based solely on clinical examination and apnea (independent respiratory effort) testing (Neurology 2010; 74:1911). This is a change from the 1987 guidelines, in which routine use of electroencephalography for neonates and older infants was recommended. The updated guidelines state that ancillary testing (e.g., electroencephalography, or a radionuclide scan to look for cerebral blood flow) can be performed if some component of the neurological examination o…