Neurosurgery
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A survey of neurosurgeons and neurologists assessed physician practices in the declaration of brain death. Ninety-four per cent of the respondents thought that the diagnosis of brain death was legitimate; most thought that it was justified by a failure of somatic survival after brain death. Fifty-four per cent of the respondents had made the diagnosis themselves 1 to 5 times a year. ⋯ Only 6% would stop the ventilator despite the family's wishes. These results substantiate a wide variation in the actions of neurologists and neurosurgeons in brain death declaration. This has important implications for decisions about death in neurology and neurosurgery.