Okamoto and Sugimoto report a 3-month-old infant who developed apnea presumably secondary to hypoglycemia and then had a cardiopulmonary arrest. She regained sinus heart rhythm and spontaneous respirations 40 minutes after the apnea was first noted. Examination revealed evidence of neurologic function, including spontaneous respiration. There was subsequent deterioration in the infant's status and the patient met the clinical criteria for brain death on hospital day 3 and this persisted for 48 hours. Ancillary tests, including electroencephalogram (EEG) and brainstem auditory-evoked responses supported the clinical diagnosis. The infant survived for an additional 71 days after meeting the criteria for brain death formulated by the Task Force on Brain Death in Children.
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September 1995
