Neurosurgeons are increasingly being called upon to determine whether brain death has occured in patients in deep coma as regulations pertaining to the issue place the burden of accurate and timely diagnosis on them. In this article, clinical criteria and legal regulations in Turkey are presented in an attempt to clarify the process of diagnosing brain death. Also presented are controversies relating to diverse clinical findings, significance of confirmatory tests, as well as procedural guidelines in other countries.

Keywords: Brain death, diagnostic criteria, clinical diagnosis, confirmatory test, organ transplantation, guidelines, legal regulations