Transcranial Doppler and brain death diagnosis

Objectives: a) To examine the clinical utility of transcranial Doppler and continuous-wave Doppler in monitoring nonsurgical patients with severe intracranial disease until intracranial circulatory arrest and brain death; and b) to investigate if hemodynamic phenomena that occur under such conditions are correlated to specific transcranial Doppler and continuous-wave Doppler waveforms. Design: Prospective, observational study. Setting: Medical intensive care unit (ICU) in a city hospital. Patients: Thirty-seven consecutive patients with Glasgow Coma Scores of <7