Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde
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Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd · Dec 1993
Biography Historical Article[1993 Nobel Prize for Medicine for the discovery of split genes].
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In a brain-dead patient, a 42-year-old woman who went into a coma after a cervical foraminotomy, spinal automatisms were seen which cast doubt on the diagnosis of brain death. The procedure which was to lead to organ transplantation was seriously disturbed. ⋯ Spinal automatisms can also appear spontaneously and can be generated by hypercapnia. If criteria for brain death are met, these movements are no reason to reconsider the diagnosis of brain death.