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Apnoea testing to confirm brain death in clinical practice. |
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| Authors: | C A van Donselaar J D Meerwaldt J van Gijn |
| Abstract: | In six patients an apnoea test was carried out to confirm brain death according to a protocol recommended in the USA. After ten minutes' apnoea the pCO2 did not reach the target value of 7.98 kPa (60 mm Hg) in any of these patients. This was caused by the low initial value and the slow increase of the pCO2. Moreover, we could not confirm the belief that the necessary duration of the apnoea test can be predicted by assuming a rise of the pCO2 of 0.33 kPa (2.5 mm Hg) per minute. |
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