An Investigation and Suggestions for the Improvement of Brain Death Determination in China

To Accelerate the Process of Brain Death Determination in China Through the Strategy and Practice of Establishing Demonstration Hospitals

BACKGROUND

Our objective was to explore whether a brain death determination (BDD) strategy with demonstration hospitals can accelerate the process of BDD in China.

METHODS

We proposed the construction standards for the BDD quality control demonstration hospitals (BDDHs). The quality and quantity of BDD cases were then analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 107 BDDHs were established from 2013 to 2022 covering 29 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities under jurisdiction of the central government of the Chinese mainland (except Qinghai and Tibet). A total of 1,948 professional and technical personnel from these 107 BDDHs received training in BDD, 107 quality control personnel were trained in the quality control management of BDD, and 1,293 instruments for electroencephalography, short-latency somatosensory evoked potential recordings, and transcranial Doppler imaging were provided for BDD. A total of 6,735 BDD cases were submitted to the quality control center. Among the nine quality control indicators for BDD in these cases, the implementation rate, completion rate, and coincidence rate of apnea testing increased the most, reaching 99%.

CONCLUSIONS

The strategy of constructing BDDHs to promote BDD is feasible and reliable. Ensuring quality and quantity is a fundamental element for the rapid and orderly popularization of BDD in China.

Promoting the process of determining brain death through standardized training

Objective

This study aims to explore the training mode for brain death determination to ensure the quality of subsequent brain death determination.

Methods

A four-skill and four-step (FFT) training model was adopted, which included a clinical neurological examination, an electroencephalogram (EEG) examination, a short-latency somatosensory evoked potential (SLSEP) examination, and a transcranial Doppler (TCD) examination. Each skill is divided into four steps: multimedia theory teaching, bedside demonstration, one-on-one real or dummy simulation training, and assessment. The authors analyzed the training results of 1,577 professional and technical personnel who participated in the FFT training model from 2013 to 2020 (25 sessions), including error rate analysis of the written examination, knowledge gap analysis, and influencing factors analysis.

Results

The total error rates for all four written examination topics were < 5%, at 4.13% for SLSEP, 4.11% for EEG, 3.71% for TCD, and 3.65% for clinical evaluation. The knowledge gap analysis of the four-skill test papers suggested that the trainees had different knowledge gaps. Based on the univariate analysis and the multiple linear regression analysis, among the six factors, specialty categories, professional and technical titles, and hospital level were the independent influencing factors of answer errors (p < 0.01).

Conclusion

The FFT model is suitable for brain death (BD) determination training in China; however, the authors should pay attention to the professional characteristics of participants, strengthen the knowledge gap training, and strive to narrow the difference in training quality.

Cases Abusing Brain Death Definition in Organ Procurement in China

Organ donation after brain death has been practiced in China since 2003 in the absence of brain death legislation. Similar to international standards, China's brain death diagnostic criteria include coma, absence of brainstem reflexes, and the lack of spontaneous respiration. The Chinese criteria require that the lack of spontaneous respiration must be verified with an apnea test by disconnecting the ventilator for 8 min to provoke spontaneous respiration. However, we have found publications in Chinese medical journals, in which the donors were declared to be brain dead, yet without an apnea test. The organ procurement procedures started with initiating "intratracheal intubation for mechanical ventilation after brain death," indicating that a brain death diagnosis was not performed. The purpose of the intubation was not to resuscitate the patient but rather was directly related to facilitating the explantation of organs. Moreover, it was unmistakably stated in two of these publications that the cardiac arrest was induced in these patients without brain death determination by cold St. Thomas cardioplegic solution or other cold myocardial protection solutions. This means that the condition of these donors neither met the criteria of brain death nor that of cardiac death. In other words, the "donor organs" may well have been procured in these cases from living human beings. Thus, brain death definition is abused in China by some individuals for organ harvesting, and a systematic investigation is needed to clarify the situation of organ donation after brain death in China.

Minimum Criteria for Brain Death Determination: Consensus Promotion and Chinese Practice

BACKGROUND

Brain death (BD), the irreversible cessation of function in the whole brain, is a well-known condition in most countries. The criteria and practical guidelines for brain death determination (BDD) in China were issued by the Brain Injury Evaluation Quality Control Center (BQCC) of the National Health and Family Planning Commission in 2013. Thereafter, we proposed a plan called the three-step quality control plan (three-step QCP) to ensure the safety and consistency of the clinical judgments regarding BD. By retrospectively reviewing this plan, we aimed to identify problems during its implementation and to provide suggestions for future work on quality control for BDD.

METHODS

Data were retrieved from the BQCC database. The characteristics and test results of physicians undergoing a BDD training course and the BD case records submitted by hospitals before and after receiving accreditation were analyzed.

RESULTS

In the first step of the plan, the error rate for physicians undergoing the BDD paper test was highest for limb movement discrimination (26.29%); this error rate was correlated with age (per 10-year increase) (odds ratio = 1.262, 95% confidence interval 1.067-1.491, P = 0.007) but was nonsignificantly associated with sex, specialty category, professional level, and hospital level (P > 0.05). During the second step of the plan, the highest percentage of problems was associated with apnea testing (22.75%), followed by ancillary testing of BDD (16.17%). In the last step, the highest percentage of problems in the case records was associated with apnea testing (41.73%).

CONCLUSIONS

The three-step QCP is of significant utility for ensuring accuracy and appropriateness in BDD. Simultaneously, this study provides important evidence for advancing quality control for BDD in the next stage.

Investigation of Apnea Testing During Brain Death Determination in China

Apnea testing (AT) is one of the key steps for brain death (BD) diagnosis and confirmation. However, the completion rate of AT is not well in China. The aim of this study was to investigate the completion rates of the AT during BD determination in China and analyze the determinant factors. We reviewed and analyzed potential BD patients registered in our database from 2013 to 2019. The patients were divided into those with completed and aborted AT. Preconditions and organ function status were compared between the two groups. A total of 1,531 (1,301 adults and 230 pediatrics) cases of potential BD were extracted, and BD determination was performed 2,185 and 377 times in adults and pediatrics respectively. The nonperformance and aborted rates of AT were 12.2% and 34.5% in adults, and 11.7% and 44.4% in pediatrics respectively. Compared with the completed group, the aborted group had a lower PaO2, systolic blood pressure, PaO2/FiO2 ratios, and higher alveolar-arterial (A-a) gradient both in adults and pediatrics, and higher PaCO2 and higher heart rates in adults. PaO2 and A-a gradient had higher predictive efficacy for AT completion in both adults and pediatrics. The implementation and completion rates of AT are not ideal in China. PaO2 and A-a gradient are important factors for the successful completion of AT and should be optimized before AT.

Cultural sensitivity in brain death determination: a necessity in end-of-life decisions in Japan

Background

In an increasingly globalized world, legal protocols related to health care that are both effective and culturally sensitive are paramount in providing excellent quality of care as well as protection for physicians tasked with decision making. Here, we analyze the current medicolegal status of brain death diagnosis with regard to end-of-life care in Japan, China, and South Korea from the perspectives of front-line health care workers.

Main body

Japan has legally wrestled with the concept of brain death for decades. An inability to declare brain death without consent from family coupled with cultural expectations of family involvement in medical care is mirrored in other Confucian-based cultures (China and South Korea) and may complicate care for patients from these countries when traveling or working overseas. Within Japan, China, and South Korea, medicolegal shortcomings in the diagnosis of brain death (and organ donation) act as a great source of stress for physicians and expose them to potential public and legal scorn. Here, we detail the medicolegal status of brain death diagnosis within Japan and compare it to China and South Korea to find common ground and elucidate the impact of legal ambiguity on health care workers.

Conclusion

The Confucian cultural foundation of multiple Asian countries raises common issues of family involvement with diagnosis and cultural considerations that must be met. Leveraging public education systems may increase awareness of brain death issues and lead to evolving laws that clarify such end-of-life issues while protecting physicians from sociocultural backlash.

Apnea Testing for the Determination of Brain Death: A Systematic Scoping Review

Apnea is one of the three cardinal findings in brain death (BD). Apnea testing (AT) is physiologically and practically complex. We sought to review described modifications of AT, safety and complication rates, monitoring techniques, performance of AT on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and other relevant considerations regarding AT. We conducted a systematic scoping review to answer these questions by searching the literature on AT in English language available in PubMed or EMBASE since 1980. Pediatric or animal studies were excluded. A total of 87 articles matched our inclusion criteria and were qualitatively synthesized in this review. A large body of the literature on AT since its inception addresses a variety of modifications, monitoring techniques, complication rates, ways to perform AT on ECMO, and other considerations such as variability in protocols, lack of uniform awareness, and legal considerations. Only some modifications are widely used, especially methods to maintain oxygenation, and most are not standardized or endorsed by brain death guidelines. Future updates to AT protocols and strive for unification of such protocols are desirable.

Non-invasive Evaluation of Brain Death Caused by Traumatic Brain Injury by Ultrasound Imaging

Objectives

To investigate the clinical value of non-invasive ultrasound imaging in the evaluation of brain death caused by traumatic brain injury.

Methods

Thirty-four patients with acute severe traumatic brain injury were admitted to hospital within 48 h after injury. All patients were monitored intracranial pressure, transcranial Doppler, echocardiography examination, collection intracranial pressure, MCA-Vs, MCA-Vd, MCA-Vm, EF, LVMPI, RVMPI and other indicators, and combined with clinical conditions and other related data for comparative study and statistical analysis.

Results

The blood flow spectrum was characterized by diastolic retrograde blood flow spectrum pattern and nail waveform spectrum shape when the patient had clinical brain death. For the parameters of transcranial Doppler, there were significant differences in MCA-Vm and PI between clinical brain death group and normal control group (P < 0.05). For the parameters of echocardiography, there were statistically significant differences in EF, LVMPI, and RVMPI between clinical brain death group and normal control group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Non-invasive dynamic monitoring of cerebral hemodynamics and cardiac function parameters in patients with severe craniocerebral injury can provide a high accuracy and reliability for the preliminary diagnosis of brain death in patients with severe craniocerebral injury. It is helpful for early evaluation of prognosis and provides effective monitoring methods and guidance for clinical treatment.

Retrospective analysis of the apnea test and ancillary test in determining brain death

Objective

We investigated the frequency of apnea tests, and the use of ancillary tests in the diagnosis of brain death in our hospital, as well as the reasons for not being able to perform apnea testing and the reasons for using ancillary tests.

Methods

In this retrospective study, the files of patients diagnosed with brain death between 2012 - 2018 were examined. The preferred test was determined if an ancillary test was performed in the diagnosis of brain death. The rate and frequency of use of these tests were analyzed.

Results

During the diagnosis of brain death, an apnea test was performed on 104 (61.5%) patients and was not or could not be performed on 65 (38.5%) patients. Ancillary tests were performed on 139 (82.8%) of the patients. The most common ancillary test was computed tomography angiography (79 patients, 46.7%). Approval for organ donation was received in the meetings with the family following the diagnosis of brain death for 55 (32.5%) of the 169 patients.

Conclusion

We found an increase in the rate of incomplete apnea tests and concordantly, an increase in the use of ancillary tests in recent years. Ancillary tests should be performed on patients when there is difficulty in reaching a decision of brain death, but it should not be forgotten that there is no worldwide consensus on the use of ancillary tests.

Public opinion and legislations related to brain death, circulatory death and organ donation

BACKGROUND

It is poorly understood how public perception of the difference between brain death and circulatory death may influence attitudes towards organ donation. We investigated the public opinion on brain death versus circulatory death and documented inconsistencies in the legislations of countries with different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

METHODS

Using a crowdsourcing approach, we randomized 1072 participants from 30 countries to a case report of organ donation after brain death or to one following circulatory death. Further, we sampled guidelines from 24 countries and 5 continents.

RESULTS

Of all participants, 73% stated they would be willing to donate all organs, while 16% would want to donate some of their organs. To increase the rate of donations, 47% would agree with organ donation without family consent as the default. Exposure to "brain death" was not associated with a lesser likelihood of participants agreeing with organ donation (82.1%) compared to "circulatory death" (81.9%; relative risk 1.02, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.03; p = .11). However, participants exposed to "circulatory death" were more certain that the patient was truly dead (87.9% ± 19.7%) than participants exposed to "brain death" (84.1% ± 22.7%; Cohen's d 0.18; p = 0:004). Sampling of guidelines revealed large differences between countries regarding procedures required to confirm brain death and circulatory death, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Implementation of organ donation after circulatory death is unlikely to negatively influence the willingness to donate organs, but legislation is still brain death-based in most countries. The time seems ripe to increase the rate of circulatory death-based organ donation.