VALUE OF INTRAVENOUS CEREBRAL-ANGIOGRAPHY FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF CEREBRAL DEATH

The success of transplantations relies on uninjured organs i.e., haves ted before circulatory failure. At present, french law concerning cere bral death criteria (circulaire ministerielle no 3 du 21.01.91) requir es the association of clinical patterns and 2 repeated, unreactive and flat electroencephalographic (EEG) tracings. Blood and urinary sample s also need to be free from any nervous system depressant drug, the pa tient has not to be hypothermic. These obligations are not always comp atible with patients statuts or local organization. The consequence mi ght be organ loss or delay in harvesting schedule. A review ot the lit terature points out the trap in realization and analysis of EEG in thi s kind of intensive care patients. Angiogram, on the opposite, is infl uenced neither by nervous system depressant drug nor by hypothermia. A s it is in some other western countries, it should be proposed as the reference.