VENOUS ANGIOGRAPHY INTEREST FOR DIAGNOSIS OF BRAIN-DEATH - 125 CASES

According to many ethical and humanitarian arguments, the diagnosis of ''brain death'' is more and more an emergency. The forensic criteria include abolition of consciousness, abolition of brain stem reflexes, abolition of spontaneous breathing joined to electrocerebral silence. However using EEG criteria of electrical silence may be unreliable bec ause of technical artefacts or depressed electrical activity due to dr ug intoxication and hypothermia. Venous angiography was used in 125 ca ses : our experience proves reliability and efficiency of angiographic criteria for diagnosis of brain death. For organ transplant, it is be tter to be as fast as possible : transplanted organ will be better and it reduces the cost of a long unuseful intensive care. When it is nec essary, we suggest to allow the choice between EEG and angiography.