Canada-DONATE study protocol: a prospective national observational study of the medical management of deceased organ donors.

Introduction: Research on the management of deceased organ donors aims to improve the number and quality of transplants and recipient outcomes. In Canada, this research is challenged by regionalisation of donation services within provinces and the geographical, clinical and administrative separation of donation from transplantation services. This study aims to build a national platform for future clinical trials in donor management.

Ancillary testing for diagnosis of brain death: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The essential clinical diagnostic components of brain death must include evidence for an established etiology capable of causing brain death, two independent clinical confirmations of the absence of all brainstem reflexes and an apnea test, and exclude confounders that can mimic brain death. Numerous confounders can render the clinical neurological determination of death (NDD) virtually impossible. As such, clinicians must rely on additional ancillary testing.