Intensive care medicine
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Intensive care medicine · Nov 2016
Review Meta AnalysisThe rate of brain death and organ donation in patients resuscitated from cardiac arrest: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
The occurrence of brain death in patients with hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury after resuscitation from cardiac arrest creates opportunities for organ donation. However, its prevalence is currently unknown. ⋯ In patients with hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury following CPR, more than 10 % of deaths were due to brain death. More than 40 % of brain-dead patients could donate organs. Patients who are unconscious after resuscitation from cardiac arrest, especially when resuscitated using e-CPR, should be carefully screened for signs of brain death.