Brain temperature before and after brain death

Abstract

Although there has been renewed interest in human brain temperature, very little information is available on the association between brain temperature and cerebral perfusion pressure. In this study, we measured brain, tympanic, and rectal temperatures, arterial blood pressure and intracranial pressure in a case of massive hemorrhage deteriorating to brain death, and showed for the first time that when cerebral perfusion pressure began to decrease markedly brain temperature fell rapidly. Rectal and tympanic temperatures were higher than brain temperatures during the period of very low cerebral perfusion pressure. Circadian change in temperature (high at day, low at night) was preserved during the period of brain death.