Brain death in the newborn - Current perspectives

Brain death can be diagnosed in the full-term newborn, even when less than 7 days of age. An observation period of 48 hours is recommended to confirm the diagnosis. If an EEG is isoelectric or if a CBF study shows no flow, the observation period can be shortened to 24 hours. Although there are few cases of preterm infants who are brain dead, it is Likely that the same time frame would be applicable. Based on available data, the risk of misdiagnosis appears exceedingly low. There have been few instances of neonates or older infants who showed minimal transient clinical or EEG recovery but with no meaningful neurologic function and all died within brief periods of time.