CME on Brain Death

MOHAN Foundation, Chennai, organized a CME on Brain Death for Transplant Coordinators on 1^st May 2010. Dr. T. Venkatachalam, Consultant Anaesthesiologist & Intensivist, Professor-Dept. of Anaesthesiology, Madras Medical College & Govt. General Hospital chaired the programme.

19 transplant coordinators from Stanley Hospital, Madras Medical Mission, Sankara Nethralaya, Sundaram Medical Foundation, Vijaya Hospital, Chennai Kaliappa Hospital, Fortis Malar Hospital, MOHAN Foundation and Apollo Indraprastha Hospital, Delhi,  took part in the programme. 

The CME started with a lecture on “Protocols in Paediatric brain death” by Dr. K. Sajith, Paediatric Intensivist, Childs’ Trust Hospital, Chennai. He described the common causes of brain death in children (viral encephalitis, metabolic conditions, not RTA like in adults), the maintenance, the time duration between first and second brain death declaration depending upon the age criteria. He also highlighted the importance of communication and coordination between the hospitals that don’t have a license for organ retrieval and transplantation and the hospitals registered as transplant centres.   

The next session was on “Identification of brain death & Maintenance of brain dead donor” by Dr. K.Ilankumaran, Cardiac anaesthetist & Surgical intensivist, Global Hospitals. He covered the important areas of organ donation and transplantation including history, brain stem damage, the pathophysiology and the fine balance required in maintaining adequate perfusion to the organs. He also stressed the importance of communication between the donor maintenance team and the retrieval team.

The final session was on “Brain death Certification” by Dr. T. Venkatachalam, Consultant Anaesthesiologist & Intensivist, Professor-Dept. of Anaesthesiology, Madras Medical College & Govt. General Hospital. He spoke about the panel of doctors who need to declare brain death, the time interval, contribution of transplant coordinators in getting consent from the family, and also in the retrieval and transplantation process.

At the end, five case studies were discussed by Dr. T. Venkatachalam. It helped the transplant coordinators get an idea of the real scenario, the difficulties encountered and ways to overcome such situations. Overall the programme had a very good impact on the participants and they expressed their wish to participate in more such CMEs to expand their knowledge base.