Neurol. praxi. 2025;26(2):97-102 | DOI: 10.36290/neu.2024.086

The history of defining and determining death

prof. MUDr. Egon Kurča, PhD., FESO, prof. MUDr. Štefan Sivák, PhD.

Neurologická klinika JLF UK a UNM, Martin

Determining a person's death is generally unproblematic and requires no special education or skill. In a small proportion of cases, however, it is not at all easy to determine whether a person is dead or alive. The situation is further complicated by the need to define the time and cause of death. In the article, the authors discuss the history of defining and determining the death of a person from the 18th century (a period of accelerated anatomical-physiological knowledge) until the present day. Particular attention is paid to a concept used in the last half-century, namely brain death based on neurological criteria. Also, emphasis is placed on the fact that the issue of death is a combination of professional-medical, moral-ethical, philosophical-religious, and legislative-legal aspects along with the emotional background of those who are close to the deceased ones.

Keywords: brain death, determining death based on neurological criteria, history, ethics, legislation.

Received: October 4, 2024; Revised: December 20, 2024; Accepted: December 30, 2024; Prepublished online: December 30, 2024; Published: May 5, 2025  Show citation