Acta paediatrica
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To study the aetiology and clinical course of children with brainstem death in a paediatric intensive care unit (ICU) and to determine whether current the practices that are used to declare brainstem death conform to accepted criteria. ⋯ Trauma remains the most common primary diagnosis leading to brainstem death. Intensivists in this large hospital for children mainly conform to accepted guidelines for determination of brainstem death although there is a wider use of ancillary tests to aid diagnosis. The study also showed a low rate of < 10% of organ procurement for transplantation.