[Determination of brain death in organ donation: is EEG required?]

The determination of brain death is a prerequisite of multiple organ donation in ventilated patients in the ICU. The criteria for brain death differ internationally. In some countries, brain stem death is equivalent to brain death. In others, including the Netherlands, in addition to the determination of brain stem death, an EEG must also be carried out to rule out cortex activity according to the criteria of "whole brain death". However, this does not prove that there is complete failure of all brain functions; indeed, EEG does not examine the subcortical brain. The Dutch Health Board has established that brain death is ruled out by rest activity in the cortex, but not by persistent subcortical activity. This is conceptually incorrect. The criteria for brain stem death fit better in practice than the criteria for whole brain death. Taking an EEG should therefore no longer be an obligation in establishing brain death, as is the case in many other countries.