Brain Death and Disorders of Consciousness

by International Symposium on Coma and Death (4th : 2004 : Havana, Cuba); Shewmon, D. Alan; Machado, Calixto

• ISBN13: 9780306484827
• ISBN10: 030648482X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-03-01
• Publisher: Plenum Pub Corp

Summary

Although some decades have passed, there are still worldwide controversies about a concept of human death on neurological grounds. There are also disagreements on the diagnostic criteria for brain death, whether clinical alone or clinical plus ancillary tests. Moreover, some scholars who were strong defenders of a brain-based standard of death are now favoring a circulatory-respiratory standard. The study of coma is extremely important because lesions of the brain are responsible for quality of life in patients or cause of death. The main goal of Brain Death and Disorders of Consciousness is to provide a suitable scientific platform to discuss all topics related to human death and coma.

Table of Contents

PHILOSOPHICAL, ETHICAL, AND LEGAL ISSUES
Brain Death: Updating a Valid Concept for 2004	1	(14)
Julius Korein and Calixto Machado
The Concept of Brain Death	15	(8)
Jean-Michel Guérit
The "Critical Organ" for the Organism as a Whole: Lessons from the Lowly Spinal Cord	23	(20)
D. Alan Shewmon
"Brain Death" Is Not Death	43	(8)
Paul A. Byrne and Wait F. Weaver
The Conceptual Basis for Brain Death Revisited: Loss of Organic Integration or Loss of Consciousness?	51	(10)
John P. Lizza
Consciousness, Mind, Brain, and Death	61	(18)
Josef Seifert
The Death of Death	79	(10)
James J. Hughes
The Semiotics of Death and Its Medical Implications	89	(26)
D. Alan Shewmon and Elisabeth Seitz Shewmon
About the Continuity of Our Consciousness	115	(18)
Pim Van Lommel
Brain Death and Organ Transplantation: Concepts and Principles in Judaism	133	(6)
Z. Harry Rappaport and Isabelle T. Rappaport
Cuba Has Passed a Law for the Determination and Certification of Death	139	(4)
Calixto Machado and the National Commission for the Determination and Certification of Death
DIAGNOSIS, PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND TREATMENT
Neuroprotection Becomes Reality: Changing Times for Cerebral Resuscitation	143	(8)
Maxwell S. Damian
Controlled Hypertension for Refractory High Intracranial Pressure	151	(10)
Philippe Hantson
On Irreversibility as a Prerequisite for Brain Death Determination	161	(8)
James L. Bernat
How Should Testing for Apnea Be Performed in Diagnosing Brain Death?	169	(6)
Christoph J.G. Lang and Josef G. Heckmann
Evoked Potentials in the Diagnosis of Brain Death	175	(14)
Enrico Facco and Calixto Machado
Recovery from Near Death following Cerebral Anoxia: A Case Report Demonstrating Superiority of Median Somatosensory Evoked Potentials over EEG in Predicting a Favorable Outcome after Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation	189	(8)
Ted L. Rothstein
Human Brain-Dead Donors and 31P MRS Studies on Feline Myocardial Energy Metabolism	197	(10)
George J. Brandon Bravo Bruinsma and Cees J.A. Van Echteld
Organ Donation after Fatal Poisoning: An Update with Recent Literature Data	207	(8)
Philippe Hantson
The ABC of PVS: Problems of Definition	215	(14)
D. Alan Shewmon
Brain Function in the Vegetative State	229	(10)
Steven Laureys, Marie-Elisabeth Faymonville, Xavier De Tiège, Philippe Peigneux, Jacques Berré, Gustave Moonen, Serge Goldman, and Pierre Maquet
Global Neurodynamics and Deep Brain Stimulation: Appreciating the Perspectives of Place and Process	239	(16)
David I. Pincus
Honoring Treatment Preferences near the End of Life: The Oregon Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Program	255	(8)
Terri A. Schmidt, Susan E. Hickman, and Susan W. Tolle
Palliative Sedation in Terminally I11 Patients	263	(6)
Paul C. Rousseau
Index	269