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The Concept and Diagnosis of Brain Death

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The Transplantation and Replacement of Thoracic Organs

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Abstract

The concept of brain death or coma dépassé as opposed to clinical death, which is the absence of all vital signs, was first formulated by Mollaret and Goulon in 19591. As could be expected, this new concept of death evoked considerable controversy both in medical and lay circles. It is, however, not an academic cor philosophical question but a common one of very real practical importance, and one with wide ethical, legal and economic implications.

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Authors
  1. J. C. de Villiers
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Baptist Medical Center, Oklahoma Transplantation Institute, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

    David K. C. Cooper MA, MD, PhD, FRCS (Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Director of Research and Education, Formerly, Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery) & Dimitri Novitzky MD, FCS (SA) (Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Formerly, Specialist in Cardiothoracic Surgery) (Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Director of Research and Education, Formerly, Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery) &  (Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Formerly, Specialist in Cardiothoracic Surgery)

  2. University of Cape Town Medical School and Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa

    David K. C. Cooper MA, MD, PhD, FRCS (Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Director of Research and Education, Formerly, Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery) (Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Director of Research and Education, Formerly, Associate Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery)

  3. Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa

    Dimitri Novitzky MD, FCS (SA) (Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Formerly, Specialist in Cardiothoracic Surgery) (Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Formerly, Specialist in Cardiothoracic Surgery)

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© 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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de Villiers, J.C. (1990). The Concept and Diagnosis of Brain Death. In: Cooper, D.K.C., Novitzky, D. (eds) The Transplantation and Replacement of Thoracic Organs. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0711-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0711-9_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6805-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-0711-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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