Department of Neurology, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
ABSTRACT
The physician must understand the clear difference between severe brain damage and brain death, because brain death means that life support is useless. Brain death is the irreversible cessation of function of the brain including the brainstem. The diagnosis of the brain death is primarily based on clinical criteria, usually supported be confirmatory tests such as electrophysiological study, TCD, MRI, SPECT, and angiography.