Blood pressure patterns after brain death.
The control of vasomotor tone by the rostral ventrolateral medulla oblongata is lost in brain death. Hypotension is not an obligate clinical sign in brain death criteria, because an adequate intravascular volume may temporarily overcome this decrease in blood pressure. However, such an unstable situation is bound to collapse.1,2 Anticipatory knowledge of changes in blood pressure is important to physicians who perform brain death examinations. Delay in declaration of brain death in a hemodynamically unstable patient may jeopardize procurement and prompt pharmaceutical support to maintain adequate blood pressures is required.3–5 We aimed to characterize hemodynamic patterns after brain death.