24, 23, 75
Four modes of death with four different clocks, which map onto four different family conversations. Refractory shock arrives on day zero and will not wait for a meeting; brain death is a determination not a negotiation and takes days to arrange; neurological withdrawal without brain death is the commonest and the latest, and is the only mode in which anyone has a real choice.
Time to death within 28 days
DOI 10.1016/j.hlc.2025.04.072
Classification of mode of death as neurological (brain death, or withdrawal without brain death) or non-neurological (refractory shock, or non-neurological withdrawal)
95 patients, single centre, retrospective adjudication. Structured abstract only. [VERIFICATION REQUIRED]
51 of 95 (53.7%) died by day 28. Median survival was 0 days (IQR 0-2) for refractory shock, 2 days (IQR 1-4) for brain death, 3 days (IQR 1-8) for non-neurological withdrawal and 9 days (IQR 2-14) for neurological withdrawal without brain death - which was the commonest modality. Four patients (7.8%) underwent organ donation.
95 ECPR patients at a high-volume Australian centre, 2017-2022; 52 (54.7%) out-of-hospital arrests