Breathless Truth—Prolonged Apnea Test during Brainstem Death Testing: A Case Report

REPORTthe patient was treated with fluid resuscitation and later required an injection of noradrenaline infusion.He was started on an injection of ceftriaxone, injection of levetiracetam, injection mannitol, and antacid prophylaxis.His brainstem reflexes were absent.Testing for brain death was initiated.Confounding variables were checked for and excluded if present.He was found to have brainstem areflexia.Relatives were prognosticated about the patient's condition.The relatives opted for organ donation.The apnea test was conducted thereafter.Prior to apnea testing, the patient was euvolemic, his core temperature was reported to be 37C, blood pressure (BP) was 140/90 mm Hg, and PaCO was 41 mm Hg.Post-preoxygenation, his PaO was 476 mm Hg (Table 1).The PaO eventually increased