Diagnosis of brain death in anencephalic infants: medicolegal and ethical aspects.

Medical science needs to regulate the transplantation of organs, including the adoption of new guidelines concerning the diagnosis of brain death in patients less than five years old. In fact in the case of anencephalic infants the specific criteria are not the same as those used in subjects with normal physical development. The authors indicate the international medical point of view on what constitutes the diagnosis of brain death in anencephalic infants and discuss medicolegal and ethical aspects.