Sensory Evoked Responses in the Diagnosis of Brain Death

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses sensory evoked responses (SERs) in the diagnosis of brain death. A diagnosis of brain death requires evidence of irreversible destruction of neurons in the brain stem and cerebrum. SERs are a potentially useful clinical technique for the evaluation of brain death. There are at least four reasons why the auditory brain stem response and short-latency SER are well suited for this important application. The validity of SERs in determination of brain death is confirmed by the strong association between these electrophysiologic measures and nuclear cerebral blood flow. SERs can facilitate prompt determination of brain death and can clearly indicate the appropriate time for other confirmatory tests like nuclear CBF measurements. The elimination of unreasonable delay in the determination of brain death is particularly important in major medical centers with active organ transplantation programs. The prompt determination of brain death also reduces the patient's hospital cost and emotional trauma for the patient's family.