Waldemar Iwańczuk "Brain Death"

Author: Waldemar Iwańczuk Medical topic: brain death, transplantation Year of first publication: 2010 Description: The idea for this book originated with Prof. Dariusz Patrzałek, a surgeon and transplantologist from Wrocław, while the author is a physician from Kalisz, whose daily work on the anesthesiology ward provided him with material for reflection. This book is based on the author’s doctoral dissertation. In the following chapters, we learn about the anatomy and physiology of the brain, followed by the processes leading to brain death and its consequences for the entire body. The criteria and the evolution of the concept of brain death are described in detail in chronological order, including in the context of transplantation. The author then meticulously explains the clinical and instrumental methods necessary for diagnosing brain death based on current scientific data. Non-medical aspects of brain death—ethical and philosophical—are also mentioned, and the views of opponents of the currently accepted concept are presented.