Brain Death
Definition
Irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brainstem. Defined under Harvard criteria 1968 and adopted in India under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act 1994.
Related terms
- Adipocere
- A waxy, soap-like substance formed by saponification of body fat under anaerobic, wet, cool-to-moderate conditions. Replaces unsaturated fatty acids with saturated palmitic...
- Algor Mortis
- Postmortem cooling of the body toward ambient temperature, approximately 1-1.5 degrees Celsius per hour under average conditions. Used alongside other postmortem changes...
- Bichat's Trio
- The three modes of death: coma (cerebral failure), asphyxia (respiratory failure), syncope (cardiac/circulatory failure). Named after Xavier Bichat, 1800.
- Cellular Death
- Progressive death of individual cells after somatic death; different tissues die at different rates (cornea minutes, nerve cells hours, fibroblasts up to...
- Somatic Death
- The irreversible cessation of vital functions of the organism as a whole: cardiac activity, respiratory activity, and integrated neurological function. The threshold...
Explained in
- Thanatology: Death, Causes, Signs and Post-Mortem ChangesIrreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brainstem. Defined under Harvard criteria 1968 and adopted in India under the Transp...