Injuries
that lead to
brain death
include head traumas, strokes
and aneurysms,
anoxia,
and brain tumors.
Below you can see the relative frequency of each situation in
people who later became brain dead and were organ donors.
Head trauma is the most common condition that leads to brain
death. Automobile accidents, falls, and direct blows to the head
(including gunshot wounds) may result in severe brain injury and
subsequent brain death.
A stroke is a condition where a group of nerve cells in the brain
are damaged, often due to interrupted blood flow from a blood
clot or because of a burst blood vessel.
An aneurysm is a ballooning out of a blood vessel. In the brain,
the weakened wall of the aneurysm can rupture, especially in a
person with high blood pressure.
Anoxia is a lack of oxygen (to the brain) and can be caused by
asphyxiation, drowning, poisoning (such as with carbon
monoxide) or hanging.
death. Automobile accidents, falls, and direct blows to the head
(including gunshot wounds) may result in severe brain injury and
subsequent brain death.
A stroke is a condition where a group of nerve cells in the brain
are damaged, often due to interrupted blood flow from a blood
clot or because of a burst blood vessel.
An aneurysm is a ballooning out of a blood vessel. In the brain,
the weakened wall of the aneurysm can rupture, especially in a
person with high blood pressure.
Anoxia is a lack of oxygen (to the brain) and can be caused by
asphyxiation, drowning, poisoning (such as with carbon
monoxide) or hanging.
