° Most common is clinical exam, coupled with confirmatory testing.
° Clinical exam is simply physically testing the brain stem reflexes with the absence of sedation or paralytics and a normal blood pressure and temperature. The absence of all of the reflexes could suggest brain death.
° Apnea testing
° Pre-oxygenation of the lungs, draw blood gasses, disconnect from the ventilator, wait 8-10 minutes, visually looking for any signs that the patient is not brain dead, re-connect to vent, draw blood gasses. A brain dead patient will have a PCO2 greater than 40 or will have risen more than 20.
° Cerebral Blood Flow Study
° Nuclear medicine, shows the blood flow through the brain, involves transporting a patient.
° EEG
° Can have some errors with false positives.
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