The 2025 UK Code of Practice: A narrative review of the latest updates in the diagnosis of death by neurological criteria

Authors

  • Hatem Soliman Aboumarie Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals, UK
  • Lynne Barrass Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals, UK

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21542/gcsp.2026.s7

Abstract

The diagnosis of death by neurological criteria (commonly referred to as "brain death") remains one of the most sensitive and potentially complex areas of clinical practice. In January 2025, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) in the United Kingdom released a landmark update to its Code of Practice for the Diagnosis and Confirmation of Death. This narrative review explores the key revisions in the 2025 guidance, highlighting clinical, ethical, and operational implications. It also contextualises these updates within international standards and discusses the specific considerations for paediatric populations.

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Published

2026-03-29

Issue

Vol. 2026 No. ODUT24: Organ Donation, Utilisation and Transplantation Conference 2024

Section

Conference report

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Hatem Soliman Aboumarie, Lynne Barrass

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.