Bispectral Index Monitoring in Confirmation of Brain Death in Children

Although the guidelines for the diagnosis of brain death in children are well established, the diagnosis is still under debate, and further confirmatory tests are required. Performing these confirmatory tests presents some drawbacks, such as high costs, the need for specialized personnel and technology, transportation of patients out of the intensive care unit, and the use of contrast media. Bispectral index monitoring can provide real-time, objective, continuous monitoring of the consciousness level in critically ill children. The aim of this prospective study was to define the role of bispectral index monitoring in the confirmation and diagnosis of brain death. Eight children who had fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of brain death were included in the study. The age of patients ranged from 3 months to 15 years. All patients had electrocerebral silence on their electroencephalographic recordings. After the diagnosis of brain death, at least 2-hour monitoring was performed, and all patients expressed a score of 0, indicating brain death. According to our study, the decrease in bispectral index score to 0 in patients with suspected brain death can support and confirm brain death diagnosis in children and can enable scheduling of expensive tests, such as cerebral angiography, in the appropriate time. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to determine the role of the bispectral index in the diagnosis and confirmation of brain death in children. In this article, we review clinical utility, application time, and interpretation of bispectral index monitoring in confirmation of brain death diagnosis in children. (J Child Neurol 2006;21:799—801; DOI 10.2310/7010.2006.00131).