The ethics of donation and transplantation: are definitions of death being distorted for organ transplantation?

Table 1 Selected reported cases of autoresuscitation.

Author	Age (yr)	Diagnosis	Rhythm	Min*	Outcome	EKG	AL	Obs**
Letellier [25]	80	Pulmonary edema	asystole	5	normal	+	-	+
Voekkel [26]	55	Sudden death	asystole	7	death at 3 d	+	-	+
MacGillivray [27]	76	COPD	asystole	5	death 24 hr later	+	-	+
Rosengarten [28]	36	asthma	EMD	5	normal	+	-	+
Abdullah [29]	93	sepsis	asystole	5	not stated	+	?	+
Al-Ansari [30]	63	COPD	asystole	3	normal	+	-	+
Frolich [31]	67	MI	asystole	5	normal d3; death d7	+	+	+
Casielles-Garcia [32]	94	hemorrhage	EMD	3	death at 18 d	+	+	+
Maleck [33]	80	sepsis	asystole	<5	death at d2	+	+	+
Quick [34]	70	hyperkalemia	asystole	8	normal	-	-	+
Ben-David [35]	66	sudden VF	asystole	10	normal	-	-	+
Monticelli et al [36]	78	MI	asystole	>10	death at 19 hr	-	-	+

AL: arterial line; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; EKG: electrocardiogram; EMD: electromechanical dissociation; MI: myocardial infarction; VF: ventricular fibrillation. *Min: time in minutes from stopping resuscitation in the stated rhythm to return of circulation. **Obs: refers to continuous clinical bedside observation.

ISSN: 1747-5341