The effect of incorporating an arterial pH target during apnea test for brain death determination

ConclusionImplementing a BD criteria requiring both arterial pH and PaCO2 thresholds reduced the total number of positive ATs; these inconclusive cases would have required longer duration of AT to reach both targets, repeated ATs, or ancillary studies to confirm BD. The impact of this on the overall number BD declarations requires further research.
Source: Journal of Intensive Care - Category: Intensive Care Source Type: research